


Lingering Nostalgia

by braverystagram



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Ageplay, But he cares about Louis, Character Death, Forced Feminization, Harry captures Louis, Harry comes from a dark past, I'm Bad At Tagging, Larry Stylinson Is Real, M/M, Sad with a Happy Ending, Sadistic Harry, Stockholm Syndrome, larry stylinson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 23:58:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 29,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6215404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/braverystagram/pseuds/braverystagram
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The moment he realized that he would never leave, is when he completely broke. Harry is so sadistic and Louis is too young for this; he doesn't want the girl clothes, he doesn't want to be treated as a child. He hates the collar and the leash, he hates the punishments, he hates everything. He's so sad and he hates everything and he just wants to die at this point because what else can he do?<br/>He loudly sobs into the palm of his hands, warm salty tears endlessly trailing down his baby soft cheeks as that empty feeling grows in his chest- the feeling of complete and utter hopelessness, an all too familiar feeling for him that he wanted to go away forever.</p>
<p>"I want my family. I can't do this anymore." He yells, voice scratchy from the screams from before. He's curled up on the bed, bawling his exhausted eyes out with Harry just watching him with a remorseful look.</p>
<p>He has had many breakdowns during his stay, but this one hit him hard, and it's the hardest he cried in awhile. He's tired of everything, he's emotionally and mentally and physically exhausted; he wants his family, but he's stuck with Harry.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry, Lou. I really am."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello hi I'm Emma !! it's been awhile since I've last uploaded anything because I've been busy with school but I've made some time recently and worked on a new fanfic!!! I hope you all enjoy what I've written so far and I'm excited to complete this journey with you all !!
> 
> *btw I'm sorry if the geographical aspect is... a bit off? or wrong? you'll get what I mean in the prologue but I know nothing about the UK so bear with me here (probably should've researched a bit- well I actually did but I still don't know if I'm accurate or whatever lol). but yeah it's fictional so I can do what I want with the U.K !!

Louis groans as his sisters continue to bicker over who's hotter- Zac Efron or Channing Tatum. He also groans when someone asks his mother to put on (what he calls) shitty music (which is Radio Disney). He groans when the girls fight over which movie to watch, and he groans when they stop to use the bathroom.

“We’re almost there, Lou.” Jay softly speaks, glancing over to her son for a moment before focusing back on the highway. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head because it feels like it's been hours. A few weeks after everyone got out of school, Jay finally announced that they would be taking their usual trip to their cottage down in Scarborough (which Louis hates because the drive is so long and boring). Their cottage is down on the beach, so that's a plus but the fact that he can't bring any friends pains him because sometimes it gets boring without Liam by his side.  
His father used to join them, when their family was actually a whole and happy together. They would spend endless time at the cottage, playing board games inside while watching a movie, going water tubing and knee-boarding. They also went paddle boarding a lot, and went fishing as well. His dad made up a sandcastle contest for the kids, and the winner would get ice cream (but everyone got ice cream so there wasn't technically a winner), and also made up scavenger hunts. It was those summers that Louis felt really close to his father, and to his family as well. But when he left, things went downhill for everyone and it wasn't as fun.

Thankfully, he has a friend that has a cottage down by the same beach. He met Zayn a few years ago when he was making a sandcastle. Zayn approached him and told him the sculpture was shit, and the two immediately became best friends. Jay and his mother often get their families together for a barbecue and a bonfire, and this year they coordinated everything so that Zayn and his family could join their vacation. Louis is excited because he hardly gets to see Zayn, since he lives in Bradford. It's been a few years since they've seen each other, so they're both pumped.

“Finally here!” Jay grins as she pulls into the driveway of their summer cottage. When the car is turned off, Louis races out of the car and runs up the driveway and the concrete path that leads to the front door. 

One step closer to seeing Zayn.

~**~

The house is illuminated with the sunlight, which gave it a very summery vibe. It's one of Louis’ favorite aspects of the cottage, especially the high ceilings and the amount of windows and ceiling windows. He settles everything in his room, his large room with cerulean blue walls, to match the beach and his own eyes. There's white French doors in front of the king sized bed that led to a balcony, which he spends a lot of time on during his visits. People would think his is the master bedroom, but it honestly isn't. The room he's in is actually a bit small compared to Jay’s room.

As he changes into his swimming trunks, he hears the girls fight over which room is who's, and which bed each girl gets. Then he hears his mom march up the stairs and assign rooms to everyone. He's thankful he doesn't have to deal with that.

“Where are you going?” Jay asks as Louis walks out with a towel in hand, sunglasses covering his eyes.

“I'm going to the beach. What else would I be doing?” He laughs and shakes his head. Isn't it obvious?

“But we just got here. Don't you want to wait or something? What about Zayn?”

Louis looks down to his phone. He's been expecting a text from Zayn, saying that he's here and unpacking but he hasn't. Louis looks at Jay and shrugs before making his way down the stairs and out the porch doors to get to the beach.

~**~

Laying on his superman beach towel, Louis decides to tan while waiting for Zayn’s arrival. It's completely boring. He has no one to talk to, no one is answering his texts, but everyone seems to be at the beach today (which bothers Louis because he would like some peace and quiet after being trapped with so many loud girls for endless hours). The cottage vacation is supposed to be fun, exciting, but just like always, something is off. He feels like he's been doing the same thing over and over. And he doesn't like that.

Every summer they go to this cottage, and every time they're there they play games and soak in the sun, bathe in the water, have cookouts and parties, and after awhile, it starts to get boring. He loves his mom, and he knows for a fact that doing this makes her so happy, but maybe they need a new vacation spot. It reminds him too much of his father, and nothing is fun anymore. Jay doesn't have a boating license, or a boat, so it's not like they can really go boating like they used to (his dad took the boat with him).

He sighs in distress and sits up, taking his sunglasses off to stare out at the ocean lying in front of him. The waves are calm today, the sound of them brushing up against the shore leaves him in a sudden tranquil state, admiring the beauty of the white waves and the fact that the ocean is making the sky deep blue today. Laughter is heard off in the distance, while a motor from a boat is heard as well. He looks around, seeing a few kites up in the sky and he smiles to himself, because this is what he loves.

That is, until someone comes over and ruins the peaceful moment.

“You seem engaged in what you're observing.” It's a raspy voice, a deep one. Louis looks up and beside him stands a boy who looks about his age, only a little older. His chocolate curls fall past his shoulder, sea-green eyes staring down at him with a cheshire grin.

_He’s so fit. _It was the first thing Louis thought about the guy. He stares for too long, taking in the fact that the guy has tattoos littering his chest, and his left arm, as well as his stomach, and abdomen, and even his thigh. He chews on his bottom lip.__

__“Observing?” Louis repeats, more so to himself and the boy nods with a chuckle. Louis looks up at him._ _

__“Anything interesting?”_ _

__Louis shrugs, and the guy sits down next to him without even asking._ _

__“Just the same old beach I grew up.” It's true; The Tomlinson’s have been going to this beach ever since Louis was a few years old. He doesn't know the full story as to why they come here, but he knows this beach holds a history between his parents._ _

__“There's a better beach, you know. One that's less littered with people. ‘S more calm. Wanna see? Maybe it won't be so boring.” The guy playfully chuckles, probably trying to lighten the mood and the atmosphere between them._ _

__Louis looks down to his phone, seeing no new texts from Zayn. This guy doesn't seem half bad, and he could really use some company, so why not?_ _

__“Sure. Maybe when my friend, Zayn comes we can show him? Then we can all hang out or something.” Louis smiles and the two stand up together, the guy who hasn't even introduced himself brushing the sand off his bum before starting to walk down the shore. Louis runs up to catch up with him since his strides are a bit longer._ _

__“I'm Louis.” He announces, and the guy besides him hums._ _

__“I'm Harry. Nice to meet you.” He looks down at the small boy with a smile. “You live here?”_ _

__Louis sadly shakes his head, because he honestly wishes he does. It's so much nicer here, and the beach is always soothing for him, and it's something he doesn't get back at Doncaster. But at the same time, he doesn't because living here would only remind him of his dad, and he would drown in nostalgia (even though he somewhat already does). “Sadly I don't. Do you?”_ _

__“Nah.” Harry shakes his head as well. “Just here on a vacation.”_ _

__“Wow does everyone come here for vacation?” Louis giggles. He looks forward to see them walking endlessly down the shore. “Are you sure there's a private spot? It doesn't really seem like it.” He feels like they've just been walking down the beach for countless minutes, and he looks back and notices that he's far from his cottage now. It doesn't feel like he's been walking for long, but judging by how far he is from his cottage, it's been awhile._ _

__“I think I need-” Louis’ mouth is suddenly filled with a bandana, that is tied around his head so he can't talk. His screams are muffled as his eyes are covered with another bandana, and he could feel his hands getting tied behind his back. He tries to run, tries to call for help, but someone is holding him back. He suddenly feels a sting in his bicep, and the next thing he is greeted with, is darkness._ _


	2. Chapter 2

He feels completely exhausted when he wakes up. He doesn't care to open his eyes because he really doesn't want to; he’ll only realize that everything that just happened was a dream, and he’ll realize that he's still stuck in the car with his annoying family. He pictures himself sitting in the front seat with his mom driving next to him, he can hear the loud sounds of the highway with the radio quietly playing in the background. He almost hums a random tune out loud to himself, smiling happily at the nice silence.

He doesn't realize, though, that he's daydreaming.

His eyes suddenly jerk open, and he is greeted with a dark, Victorian looking bedroom. He chews on his bottom lip as he looks around; right in front of him are two large windows that are covered with red curtains; a dark brown vanity is sat at the right of the bed, across from a bookcase and a red luxurious looking couch. Louis is laid in a king sized bed, with a dark red comforter. The theme of the room is red, too much red for Louis’ liking.

_But where the hell am I? ___

__He starts to immediately panic. He doesn't remember anything at all, doesn't know how he got here, he's exhausted, too tired to even move. He feels like moving, he wants to move, he tries sitting up and getting out of bed, but something around his neck immediately tightens around him, and that's when he realizes he has a collar on, with a leash that's tied to the bedpost.  
He starts to pant, his chest becoming too tight for air to pass through as he frantically looks around, eyes wide with fear and uncertainty. Fear because obviously he isn't familiar with his surroundings, uncertain _because what the hell is going on? _____

____Suddenly, the door opens and Louis cowards under the duvet, curling into the fetal position as he trembles with fear. He couldn't catch a glimpse of who came in, but he knows the person is probably violent and strong._ _ _ _

____“Louis?”_ _ _ _

____It's a familiar raspy voice, one that Louis knows for sure he's heard, but who does it belong to?  
He shakes as he hears footsteps nearing the bed, causing him to move to the edge. He’s restrained though, and the leash keeps him from moving any farther. His sudden heavy breathing makes it obvious that he is hiding from the man, and it causes the man to chuckle deeply._ _ _ _

____“Come out please.”_ _ _ _

____Louis whimpers and shakes his head, although the man can't even see. The blankets are ripped completely from the bed, and Louis is revealed, lying helpless like a frightened child experiencing their first thunderstorm._ _ _ _

____“Your body is so pretty.”_ _ _ _

____It was then that he realizes that he is stripped down to his boxers. Louis has always been a bit insecure about his body, because of how feminine it looks. His hips are perfection, and his bum is to die for, not to mention his collarbones pop out. He's really a beautiful thing to look at._ _ _ _

____“It's time to get dressed, kitten.” The voice is familiar. Louis looks up, up to where the voice comes from to see the guy he had met, Harry grinning._ _ _ _

____“What the hell!? You kidnapped me!?” He yells, immediately sitting up and moving to get up off the bed, but the collar chokes him and prevents him from doing so._ _ _ _

____He is ignored, and Harry unties the leash from the bed post, only to yank it to force Louis out of the bed. The smaller boy whines and glances up at Harry as he slowly gets up off the bed._ _ _ _

____“This hurts my neck.” He feels so small compared to Harry, and weak. “I thought you were cool too! You seemed so nice and cool to hang out with!”_ _ _ _

_____I should be kicking and screaming but I don't want to get hurt. ____ _ _ _

______Usually Louis would be screaming at Harry to let him go, and he so badly wants to. He wants to yell at him and ask him why he's here, why he's been kidnapped, but he knows for sure that something bad would happen, and Louis is deathly afraid that Harry would do something. Harry could be capable of anything, and it frightens Louis because he doesn't know what._ _ _ _ _ _

_______Lay low. Then find a way to escape. Or maybe I can be nice and ask? ____ _ _ _ _ _

________“Please let me go.” Louis chews on his lower lip as he follows Harry to the wooden wardrobe, watching as he opens the two doors to it. They're filled with dresses and skirts, mainly pink, white, silk, and lace. Louis slowly backs up, not even wanting to go near any of the clothes but Harry keeps a firm grip on the leash and tugs him back forward, causing the small boy to stumble on his own two feet and fall to the wooden floor._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I'll pick what you wear tonight.” Harry ignores Louis’ frail command and starts looking through each article of clothing. It must be the evening, which means he must've been knocked out for quite a few hours. His mom and sisters must be going crazy-_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________My family. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________He wraps his arms tightly around his own torso as a way of hugging himself, and tries to keep himself from sobbing. They're probably just as frightened as he is; they're probably looking for him, probably so worried. If he hadn't of gone out by himself, then this wouldn't have happened. God he probably ruined his family’s vacation._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________And Zayn._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Zayn is probably worried sick. The one person he was looking forward to seeing, he couldn't even see because he was kidnapped and taken to a random fucking location._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________God why me!? ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He doesn't even realize it but he's screaming and crying, he's thrashing and clawing at Harry as Harry lifts him up to try to put on a pink silk nightgown for him. He kicks Harry (although it doesn't phase him) as he screams for his family. At this point, Harry gives up on the dress and throws it to the floor._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Just let me go!” He sobs, being dragged out of the room with the leash tugging his neck. “Please I don't want to wear this, I want to go home!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“At least be happy I'm letting you wear your boxers.” Harry rolls his eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“No.” Louis yells, stopping in the middle of the hall. Tears endlessly stream down his cheeks, his voice is hoarse from his own breakdown and the collar. “This wasn't supposed to happen!” He tugs at his hair in frustration, with Harry just watching him with amusement._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Why am I even here!?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Because you're my new babydoll.” Harry simply states and continued on with dragging Louis. The oxygen in Louis’ throat keep getting cut off due to the tugging of the collar, and he honestly hopes he dies from lack of oxygen. He’d rather die than be here right now._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I'm not even a girl!” And the tears come back just as he was calming down. “I'm not your babydoll or whatever!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“You are with me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Louis groans, with his jaw clenched, and walks over to the nearest end table in the living room and grabs a fancy and expensive looking lamp, only to throw it against the wall, looking at Harry with a, “I'm not a fucking girl!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Harry doesn't accept that tone of voice. So he darts over and smacks a hand across Louis’ baby-soft cheek. Disciplinary action._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Do not tell me what you are and what you aren't. You are in my house, so you belong to me. Everything is mine, your body, your feelings, everything. And you listen to me, got it? I own you now.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Louis doesn't want to be owned._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He bursts into tears for what feels like the fiftieth time. He earns an eye roll from Harry and gets tugged back up the stairs. Louis doesn't bother fighting anymore because he doesn't have a chance anyways. He just wants to leave and get back to his normal, happy life._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________But instead, he gets thrown into a large dog cage located in Harry’s room. It has a soft pink tie blanket with pink bows all over one side, and it has a small pillow at the opposite end of it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“You've been a bitch tonight.” Harry grumbles as he locks Louis into the cage._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He's too tired to even care. He just curls into a ball again with his face buried in the pillow, trying to make himself as small as possible._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Hopefully he can shrink and just fade away from this mess._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________~**~_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________A bitch is a girl dog, so Louis was shoved into the cage, because Harry thought he was acting like a bitch (plus, Louis looks a bit feminine- hell, he is feminine and he doesn't even know it). Unfortunately, he did not get much sleep, since he’s cramped up in a goddamn dog cage; he's uncomfortable, he's paranoid, and he's hungry. He hasn't eaten since noon, and he's assuming it's late evening now, probably night-time already which means it's been quite awhile since he's last had something in his system.  
His stomach hurt tremendously. And it's growls for food wouldn't quiet down, nor would it even stop._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He had been calling Harry for about a half an hour._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Harry continued on ignoring him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________But then Louis screams, gripping the bars that make up the cage and starts rattling them, as though he could magically break free but he knows he can't. He screams and yells Harry’s name, which disturbs the silence throughout the grand house._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________His prayers are finally answered when the doorknob rattles, and the door is shoved open. In walks Harry, with a plate of what looks to be chicken Parmesan with Angel hair pasta. Louis’ stomach aches for it, he whimpers when the plate is sat down on the floor in front of the cage. He looks up to Harry with wide pleading eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Harry stands with an innocent smile and says, “is there something you want?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Louis whines. He actually whines. Because Harry is teasing him. This guy knows for a fact that Louis needs the food, and for a little fun, he's dangling it in front of Louis when he knows he can't get it, because he's stuck._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Please?” Louis is begging, the desperation is very evident in his voice and it makes Harry lick his lips._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Are you going to act nice to me? You were being a bitch earlier.” Harry chuckles at his own joke, making Louis mentally roll his eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I'm not a dog.” Louis mumbles, getting on all fours and crawling to the front of the cage. “Please just take me out.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I’d love to eat you out.” He looks up to Harry, noticing the smirk on his face. _Cheeky asshole. _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________But with the sad look in Louis’ eyes, Harry can't let him suffer any longer. He reaches over and unlocks the cage, watching as Louis quickly crawls out and sits Indian style, taking the plate in his lap and immediately eating the pasta first._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Would you like something to drink? I forgot about that.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________Louis just shakes his head, happily sighing as he swallows the angel hair pasta. His stomach stops growling, obviously content with the delicious food that's entering it. Everything is cooked to perfection, the pasta, the sauce tastes amazing, the chicken is to die for. He can really cook; his skills are very evident in this dish, and it's making Louis want more.  
But he’s not supposed to want more, right? He’s been kidnapped and he’s suppose to take what he’s been given. Isn’t that how it works? Well maybe Harry will let him go after he eats; this is probably just a joke or something, right? He’s been held long enough, and he gets that talking to strangers is bad, so he’s learned his lesson.  
Well maybe he has a chance. Harry seems to be in a good mood, maybe. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made this dish so late into the night. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________He eventually finishes the last bit of the parmesan chicken before licking his lips, a content sigh leaving through the holes of his nostrils as he looks up to the boy in front of him. He’s watching intently, eyebrows furrowed and eyes narrow in concentration. He’s chewing on his bottom lip; seemingly lost in some sort of trance, or daydream.  
Louis sighs and dips his head down. The silence is killing him, with the exception of the soft breaths leaving both their nose. He looks up and glances around the room, Harry’s room, and notices that the theme of this room is a creamy tan color. The duvet on his king sized bed is a manila color, as well as it’s headboard. There’s a set of couches in front of a fireplace, and to the right is a door that must lead to either a bathroom or a walk in closet. Adjacent to the bed are doors that lead to a balcony (maybe Louis can just easily sneak out that way?). _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Finished?” Louis slightly jumps in his spot on the floor. His thoughts were interrupted by Harry’s raspy voice, and of course it only (slightly) frightened him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________He looks back to Harry, who is already taking his plate and standing up. “I’ve been done.” Louis mumbles, getting up off the floor._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Why are you standing?” Harry laughs, almost as if the action was a joke. Louis can’t help the slight tint of blush on his cheeks, due to the embarrassment of being laughed at. _All I did was stand? _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“I thought-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Whatever you thought was wrong. You’re getting back into the cage.” Harry chuckles, and you can hear the sadistic chime in it. He’s smirking, watching as Louis shakes his head rapidly with tears welling up in the corner of his blue-gray irises._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Please, anything but that.” Louis begs, the desperation loud in his voice. He’s so weak, and it’s not like him to be weak, but he can’t help it. It’s everything Harry does that makes him feel so vulnerable and he doesn’t know why. He just wants to be good so he can escape easier._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Why not? Don’t you love being my pup?” Harry mocks a pout._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“I’m not a dog.” Louis grumbles, crossing his arms and looking down to his feet as they suddenly become interesting. He’s avoiding Harry’s gaze._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Mm you’re right.” The taller boy hums, clicking his tongue before saying, “you resemble a kitten more. Maybe I’ll let you sleep with me tonight-” he suddenly gasps, looking around for the analogue clock on the wall and taking a few seconds to read it. “It’s ten o’five. Time for bed.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Louis’ eyebrows furrow, and he scoffs in disbelief as Harry sets the plate down on top of the cage._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“You can sleep with me tonight.” Harry walks over to a door just behind the cage and flicks a switch before opening it and walking inside. Louis assumes he’s getting actual male pajamas for him so he takes this time to inspect the balcony. He trots over and grips the fabric of the curtains that are slightly hiding the doors, and peeks his head through to take a look. It’s medium sized, with a glass table and a chair sitting off to the side. He can’t really see much since it’s night outside, but maybe he can hop off of it; hopefully the second floor isn’t so high._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Get away from there.” Harry growls, with irritation evident in his voice. Louis turns around, noticing the pastel pink silk nightgown from before dangling on his arm. He’s smiling wide, with too much excitement in his eyes. “I want you to wear this. I tried putting this on you earlier but you refused.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Oh hell no.” Were the first things to leave Louis’ mouth._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Did you really just swear at me?” He asked so seriously, sounding like a goddamn parent._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Um. Yeah?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Harry just chuckles, shaking his head as he lays the nightgown on the bed. Louis doesn’t know what to think; he’s honestly confused because Harry is now walking over to him without saying anything?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________I am so gonna get it. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“You know, you’re being a huge brat right now.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“I’m not a girl! I’m not wearing that shit!” He honestly does sound like a teenager who is refusing to put on their church clothes. There is no way he is going to wear any girl clothes. He’s a guy!_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Just go to sleep, Lou.” Harry’s jaw is clenched, he’s staring at Louis with dark and narrow eyes, and he looks beyond pissed. Almost as pissed as Gordon Ramsay gets in Hell’s Kitchen. Louis did not want to experience that._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________So he sighs and obeys Harry commands. He climbs up onto the tall, king sized bed; the mattress is much more comfier than the one he was laying on earlier in the day. He's not even in pajamas, he's basically naked with just his boxers on but he can't bring himself to even give one shit. At this point, he just wants to fall into a deep sleep and forget about everything.  
He curls into a ball and covers himself with the blankets; it's not his room back at the cottage but it's something. It's not emotionally comforting but he’ll just have to deal with it. Hopefully he can find an escape tomorrow._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Goodnight, Lou.” Harry’s raspy voice whispered. He was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice Harry slipping under the blankets, scooting close and snuggling up to him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Personal space.” Louis mumbles, scooting as close to the edge of the bed as possible._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Just be nice for once and say goodnight!” Harry impatiently yells, huffing and turning so his back is facing Louis’ back. Harry mutters something under his breath, but Louis couldn't hear. Probably something negative about him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________He eventually falls asleep around three am, while praying that this is all a dream._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for some reason, I have stuff that's supposed to be in italics but it doesn't work? I don't know why so I'm sorry for that.

_Around him is the familiar vanilla scented cottage. He happily sighs as he walks through the sliding glass door, and into the kitchen. The friendly aroma of his mother’s pancakes greet his nostrils, but no one seems to be around. Where is everyone?_  
He calls out for someone, anyone, but he cannot even speak, his voice is practically mute. He yells but everything is silent.  
No one can hear him, no one can save him. __

__“Please just let me go.” Louis wakes up sobbing, and he doesn't even realize that he's talking to no one. He's missing, according to his mom and his sisters, and Zayn and everyone else. His dream only reminded him that he's away from everyone he loves; he misses them more than anyone could ever imagine. He wants to go home. He's stuck and no one can hear his cries for help._ _

__“Louis?” Harry bursts through the door (which startled Louis) with a concerned look on his face._ _

__“I want to go home.” Louis cries out, covering his face with his hands. He doesn't see Harry rush over and get into the bed next to him, but he can feel Harry wrap his own arms around his smaller frame and pull him into his lap. Louis thrashes around, trying to hit Harry in his stomach or his chest; tries to knee him and kick because he doesn't want Harry's comfort or his pity or whatever it is Harry is trying to give him._ _

__“You are home baby.” Harry says it so softly and delicately, that it almost calms Louis down. But he isn't home, he feels like he's in hell._ _

__The small boy eventually gives up though. He's no match for Harry’s strength so he just lets him stroke his hair for awhile until he pulls away._ _

__“Leave me alone to die.” Louis grumbles, bringing his knees up to his chest and hugging his legs tightly._ _

__“I wouldn't ever let you die.” Harry speaks, voice completely and deadly serious. Harry grabs onto the leash that connects to the collar that Louis is sadly still wearing and tugs at it. “C’mon. Time to get up.” Louis shakes his head, watching as Harry stands up from the bed._ _

__“Don't make me say it again.”_ _

__Louis stays silent._ _

__Harry's eyes narrow, suddenly going dark with what seems to be irritation and anger. He walks back over to the side Louis is currently coward on and pushes the boy over so he's laying on his stomach._ _

__“What’re you-”_ _

__“You are being such a brat and I'm sick of it. You're getting spanks for not listening to me.”_ _

__Louis’ eyes almost fall out of their socket when he hears Harry say that. He whimpers and tries to crawl away but Harry easily grips his hips and pulls him back to the edge, starting to immediately slam his hand down repeatedly on the center of his bum with full force._ _

__“Ow please Harry!” Louis cries out, tears stinging his eyes as his bum is heavily abused by Harry’s hand. It doesn't hurt as much as it could since Harry didn't bother taking the boxers off but he still felt a great deal of pain._ _

__“You gonna be a good babygirl for me?” Harry yells, slamming his hand down on Louis’ left bum cheek. “Gonna listen to me from now on?”_ _

__“Okay okay fine-” Louis cries out in pain, although it sounded more like a moan (it was a moan but Louis refused to admit it). “-Please don't hurt me!”_ _

__“Apologize.” Another slap. And another. His bum is stinging, he's already so exhausted from the tiring nightmare and from all the tears that were already shed this morning, and are still being shed right at this moment. He feels like he's going to pass out, he doesn't know why but he hopes he does._ _

__“I-I’m sorry!! I'll be nice!!” His voice sounds high pitched, he feels pleasured from being spanked and he feels so dirty for it but he can't help it. He earns another smack to his left bum cheek, harsher than the first time._ _

__“Call me daddy and I'll stop.”_ _

__He immediately cries it out. “I'm sorry daddy!”_ _

__He earns one last spank from Harry before pulling away, the sadistic man smiling proudly to himself as he watches Louis curl up._ _

__“Pretty baby.” He murmurs, seemingly more to himself than to Louis._ _

__That's the last thing Louis hears for awhile._ _

__~**~_ _

__Yeah he's tired but Harry forces him out of bed an hour later. He was in the middle of a dream, which was about him dancing around in the sand with his father. He was watching a scene that happened many years ago, and he woke up crying when Harry shook him awake._ _

__“Sometimes you can be so weak.” Harry rolls his eyes, tugging on the leash to get Louis out of bed. His words hurt, but Louis knows it's true. Sometimes he can be too sensitive about things, and often in a state like this, he can be mentally and emotionally weak.  
He shrugs it off and gets up, the collar tugging at his throat as Harry pulls it along as he walks out of the bedroom, Louis slowly following. He has no idea what they're doing, but hopefully it's something better than just staying in Harry’s room._ _

__They stop at the door across from Harry’s room. Louis looks up at him with curious eyes._ _

__“This is your room obviously. The room you woke up in a few days ago.” _More like yesterday dumbass._ “Once you get used to your new lifestyle, you'll get to sleep in the princess room, which I'll show you now.”_ _

__He's getting a tour of the house. Harry starts walking down the hall, endless doors on each side. Louis doesn't know if this is a bedroom hall or what, but each door is completely the same except for one. He stops in front of it, a bunch of colorful stickers of teddy bears, crowns, butterflies, and more cover it._ _

__“What room is this?” Louis grips the doorknob and jiggles it, only to find out that the door is locked._ _

__“Louis how old are you?”_ _

__The small boy gulps, and looks up to Harry who is right beside him, peering down at him with a suddenly angered look. His jaw is clenched, voice deep and raspy with his eyes narrowed._ _

___Is Harry bipolar? ____ _

____“Seventeen...” Louis was honestly afraid to speak; he starts shaking as Harry opens his mouth._ _ _ _

____“Then you're old enough to know that touching things is a no-no.”_ _ _ _

____Louis slowly nods and is tugged harshly by the leash, which forces him to follow Harry. He looks back one more time at the door with a frown before focusing his eyes forward._ _ _ _

____“My favorite room.” Harry grins as the two of them stop of front of a door. It's closer to the stairs and it's the last room on the entire hall. “Open it.” He says with excitement._ _ _ _

____“You never told me how old _you_ are.” Louis sneers._ _ _ _

____“You're so dumb sometimes. Open the door.”_ _ _ _

____Louis frowns but obeys. He opens the door and walks in, only to cringe at the entire room. It's pink. And it's got a giant princess looking bed with- of course, a pastel pink duvet with stuffed animals littering all over it. There's a pink rug with a yellow crown in the center, there's a white bookcase filled with children's books, a white dresser, with a large nightlight on top. On one of the nightstands by the bed, there's a lamp and on the other, there's a wooden box with a painting of a cat family on top. He looks up to the ceiling and there's a whole galaxy of glow in the dark stars and moons and planets._ _ _ _

____It's too pink, and it looks too much like a kids room._ _ _ _

_____It is a kids room. ____ _ _ _

______“I'm twenty.” Harry murmurs as he walks inside, glancing around the room with a happy smile._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Do I have to stay in here?” Louis cringes at the thought. Being forced to sleep in this puke filled with pink would probably be worse than wearing skirts and dresses._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Eventually.” Harry hums. The leash is tugged at, and Louis is dragged out of the room and is tugged down the hall, walking over to a door and opening it immediately. It's next to the room Harry yelled at him not to touch the doorknob (Louis makes a note to investigate that later).  
Inside this room is a playroom. There are so many toys scattered around, with an activity table with crayons and paper on it. There's a wooden toy box and a tea set on another table. In the corner across from them, is a closed Victorian dollhouse. Louis huffs._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I'm not five.” He grumbles._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Well you'll be spending a lot of time in here.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______The tour of the house is so boring. Louis is shown the downstairs, which has a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, and in through the kitchen you could access a closed porch which has some toys in it. Louis asks about the basement, Harry completely yells at him, and it leaves Louis a crying mess._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Okay okay maybe I shouldn't have yelled.” Harry murmurs, causing Louis to immediately look up at him with wide disbelief-filled eyes._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Wait what..?” Louis wipes his eyes, and the tears that are streaming down his cheeks as he speaks._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I just- just please ignore the basement, okay? It's kind of a mess.” Harry sheepishly chuckles, scratching the back of his neck in pure discomfort. Louis doesn't know where the sudden change of heart came from, but maybe he can keep Harry like that for awhile so an escape will be easier for the future._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I'm going to make us lunch since you missed breakfast. You have two options: one, you can go in the playroom. or two, you can sit in the living room and watch cartoons.”_ _ _ _ _ _

_______Ugh. Both sound horrid. Who even watches cartoons anymore?_ At the end of the day, Louis would choose silly cartoons over a playroom filled with children’s toys. He's not a child (even though watching cartoons does make him seem childish)._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Tv please.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______He's tugged back into the living room and sits down on the couch, watching as Harry turns the tv on for him. He then watches as he takes out a few coloring books and a box of crayons from the drawer of an end table, laying them on the floor in front of the tv._ _ _ _ _ _

______“If you get bored.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______He walks over and plants a kiss to Louis’ forehead, causing the boy to push Harry away with a ‘yuck’ leaving his lips._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Do you want any clothes before I get to cooking?” Louis looks down to the boxers that he's been wearing for the past day. He will admit, he has been getting cold with the lack of clothes, but he doesn't want to wear any dresses or panties._ _ _ _ _ _

______“‘M good.” Louis mumbles, even though nothing is good._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I'm just gonna get you some clothes. Don't want you getting sick or anything.” And before Louis could even protest, Harry already ran up the stairs. He sighs and stares at the tv, Max and Ruby playing and he groans at it. Why can't he just watch Netflix?  
He averts his gaze to the window instead. The blinds are pulled back so he could easily peer out to the world outside. It's moderately sunny, with a blue but overcast sky. If he wasn't stuck here, then he would be out at the beach chilling with his best bud, Zayn, with a cool drink in his hand and tanning himself in the sunlight. They'd be sharing a good laugh, splash each other in the water, play some games of sand volleyball. It's all he wanted to do, but he was stuck inside an outdated mansion._ _ _ _ _ _

______He doesn't notice Harry come back down the stairs with a large pink sweater and a pair of pink laced panties. He doesn't even seem to care when Harry undresses him and redresses him with the new outfit. He only saw Harry take one quick glance of his dick, and he swore he could see some drool threatening to drop from the corner of his mouth._ _ _ _ _ _

______Normally Louis would mind, but today, he just doesn't have the mental capacity to even give one shit about Harry seeing him naked._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Sorry for not dressing you earlier. I'll be working on Lunch. If you need me, just call for me.” Harry leaves with a kiss to Louis’ head and that was the last he saw of Harry for awhile._ _ _ _ _ _

_______What the hell am I supposed to do? ____ _ _ _ _ _

________Max and Ruby ended, so now played The Backyardigans. They’re shows he used to watch as a kid, but now he doesn't even think to watch any of them anymore. His favorite was always Pablo though (and he might have squeaked when Pablo came onto the screen)._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________After episode and episode of the backyardigans, he grew bored. He fumbles with the hem of the  
pretty pastel pink sweater, he lifts it up and looks down at the lace that covers his groin area, and sighs. He wants to change out of it, but at the same time, it's kind of, _ pretty. ____ _ _ _ _ _

________And then his thoughts go into another direction.  
How did he end up here? He feels like he's going crazy, because now he finds himself laying on the floor, on his belly, feet up in the air, and he's fucking _coloring_ just like he used to. And he doesn't even care. He doesn't care that he's a seventeen year old having the time of his life coloring in Disney Princess Aurora._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________His dad used to color with him all the time. He remembers the time they drew their own chalk world on their driveway; he had the time of his life. The two of them were great at drawing; both had an infinite imagination. They were always drawing together, or his dad would draw something and Louis would color everything in.  
He completes Aurora, and although she's colored in with pastel colors, Louis feels as though himself is completed with bland and boring colors. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The picture is ruined when a tear drops onto her face. He throws the book against the wall and screams, salted colorless tears endlessly falling down his pale cheeks._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Why is he here?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He’ll never get that question answered._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Harry rushes into the room and lifts Louis up, cradling him bridal style and sits him on the couch._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You're making this kidnap harder than it needs to be.” He hears Harry say as the leash is tied to one of the legs of the end table. “Why do you cry all the time?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He's always been like this._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Lunch almost ready. Please stop crying. It's getting a bit annoying.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________It's all he wants to do. Just cry his heart out, until he can't anymore._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________~**~_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Harry prepared crepes filled with Nutella and bananas. Louis doesn't know how he has the skill to make something so delicious, but he's thankful he does because otherwise, he could be eating some pretty shitty food.  
They are currently sat in the dining room, Louis sitting on the end with Harry sitting adjacent to him, on his left. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“It's not the healthiest; my beautiful girl needs vegetables and fruits but I thought that maybe you’d want something sweet today.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Louis cringes at the pronoun Harry used and sighs. He’ll just have to get used to it, huh?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Louis, we haven't gone over the rules. I think now is a great time for you to listen to me, okay?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________What rules? ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“‘M listening.” Louis grumbles before taking a sip of his chocolate milk._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Rule one, you're my girl. And I'm your daddy.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________That's not even a rule, idiot. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Two, you will wear what I pick out for you and if you don't wear it, then you'll get a small punishment.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Why does he keep bringing up these punishments? How would he be punished? More spankings?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Rule three, if you try to escape this place, oh-” Harry darkly chuckles; Louis shivers. “You'll get it so bad.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The small boy gulps but nods._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Don't go tampering in anything; meaning, don't go into any rooms with closed doors. I opened all the doors that you may have access to. Don't go into the basement, don't go into the porch without permission, the attic is off limits.  
“You cannot touch yourself, keep your collar on at all times- unless I tell you that you can take it off. You can only shower or take baths with me, and you can only ever sleep with me at night.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The boy deeply frowns but finds himself nodding. He has to sleep with Harry, and take showers with him? It isn't fair because Louis barely has any freedom. He wants to speak up and voice his opinion, like he always does with his mom, but with Harry, the thought made him feel sick because Harry scares him, and he has no idea what would happen if he ever stood up to him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________If I obey him, then I have a better chance of escaping, right?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He sure hopes so._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________For the rest of the day, Louis was stuck coloring on Harry’s lap while Harry watched the news. Louis’ missing was mentioned, Louis cried, and so he was taken up to Harry’s room to take a nap. Louis though, did not fall asleep, and he missed dinner because Harry wouldn't allow him to eat._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________It was better than being with Harry anyways._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all the kudos!! I hope you all are enjoying this as much as I enjoy writing this.   
> I've never really done a kidnapping fanfic before so it's fun to experiment with the chapters and stuff.   
> hope you guys like this one, it's a good one !!

Although sleeping has been feared lately, Louis is glad he fell asleep because it’s honestly better than the reality he’s currently living in- even though it doesn’t even feel like a reality. He honestly feels like he’s in a shitty not-so-horror movie; kidnapped, and forced to participate and act in a certain way that he does not want to. Or he feels like he’s trapped inside a game and he’s the main character, and the objective of the entire game is to escape the sadistic and creepy man and get back home.

But the thing is, can he even do it?

He lies in bed, staring up at the sheet covered canopy and lets out a deep sigh. He doesn’t have the confidence that he should have. He feels weak, degraded, and part of it is because he’s wearing a fucking pink nightgown. He feels small, like he can’t do anything about any of this anymore. He’s lost confidence, and he's lost hope.

He knows for a fact that it’s early in the morning because when he got up to use the bathroom, he redirected himself to the window and peeked through the curtains, and looked out to see a painted sky, coated with pastels of red and pink over the horizon and the meadow that sat across from the giant house. It’s truly a beautiful sight to see, something he always looks forward to seeing every time he goes up to the cottage. The pastel sunrays cast down on the trees, giving each leaf a colored glow, while splotches of red and pink lay on the grass and the paved street. It feels like fall, even though it’s summer.

He finds himself getting up off the bed, being sure to be as quiet as possible so he doesn’t cause any drafting. If Harry is downstairs, then he could probably hear depending on where he is down there, so Louis tries to step as soft as possible when walking on the wooden floors.  
Slowly opening the door, he carefully peeks his head out with vigilant eyes, looking for any sign of life before finally opening the door completely and walking out. The door shuts with a soft sound of a click, and down the hall he walks.

At first he had the crazy idea of trying to escape, but the burning sensation of curiosity hammered him in his subconscious, the curiosity of the only door with stickers covering it. He remembers Harry’s reaction to when he tried to open the door, and he made it very clear that he doesn’t want Louis discovering what is on the other side of that wood, but he can’t help it. Maybe it’s an escape route? Or a key to Harry’s past? There’s a secret in that room, and Louis wants to find it out.

To his surprise, the door is unlocked; he grips the knob and it successfully turns. Should he do it? He looks down the hall, left and right, to make sure Harry isn’t coming out from anywhere before very slowly opening the door. He peeks in for a second, a room that seems to be designed for a child. It looks just like the pink princess room, except this room’s color is a pastel baby blue. He cringes.  
But why would Harry hide this room from him? It looks the same as the girly princess room, so why hide it?

And then that’s his biggest mistake: opening the door so he could get a better look, and on the bed with a blue duvet laid a boy almost his size, back facing him.

His eyes widened, and he quickly shut the door with a small bang. Who the hell was that? And the real question is: is that person even alive?  
He slowly shook his head, backing up into the wall and slowly sliding down it until his bum hit the floor.   
Who the fuck was that? There are many possibilities. One, they could be someone who got kidnapped as well. Two, they could be a sibling of Harry’s. But that’s weird because why would Harry keep a sibling around when he's kidnapping people? Does he even have a brother or a sister? Or even a family?

Louis could feel tears streaming down his eyes, and he blinks to keep them in but they keep on falling. He has to get out of here, and fast.   
Sniffling, he hurries off the floor and quickly (but quietly) trots down the hall to the stairs. He doesn’t hear anything going on downstairs, no tv, nothing in the kitchen, no sign of life.

Now might be his only chance.

He runs for it.

Running down the flight of stairs, he hurries to the foyer and he is greeted with the large front door. A sudden wave of relief flushes over him as he grips the doorknob, but it doesn’t budge. 

“Locked.” He quietly curses to himself and turns around, looking for an alternative route to take. He finds himself wandering through the dining room and into the kitchen. The porch might have a door that could leave to the backyard. He can try that, right?

“What have you got to lose, Lou?” He murmurs to himself and rushes to the door that leads to the outside porch, and to his luck it’s unlocked. He gets into the porch, there are scattered toys all around but he ignores them, only focusing on the task at hand. It smells like the familiar summer air, the temperature is just perfect for this setting and it leaves him feeling like he’s back at his cottage with his sisters, his mom, and Zayn. There’s a door to his right, that leads out to the backyard. He’s so close, almost there.  
He opens the screen door successfully, and with a wide smile, he walks down the steps onto the brick path that leads into a garden, and out to an infinite space of backyard, that eventually leads to a forest that is separated by a fence.

He’s free.

But the new objective is, where the hell does he need to go? He doesn’t even know if he’s even in Scarborough anymore. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy had to follow the yellow brick road to get home, so maybe all Louis has to do is follow this brick path?

He just goes for it. He runs for it. He’s free of Harry, and barely made it three days. He reaches the garden, and vibrant colors catch his eyes and make him stop running. He catches his breath for a moment, while looking around at all of the roses and daisies, tiger lilies, chrysanthemums, carnations. There are endless flowers surrounding the path, making it feel like a serene paradise that no one would ever want to leave. He’s panting, and his head tilts to the side in confusion but also curiosity when he spots a gray stone that is surrounded by pastel pink peonies.

He takes a step to go examine it, but something tight grips his wrist and forces him to turn around. Fear is quick to take over his body, and he tries to remove his wrist out of Harry’s grip but it’s too tight for him. He glances at the basket that Harry’s holding with his free hand, noticing the different freshly grown vegetables all piled in it. He then slowly looks up to the taller man, chewing harshly on his bottom lip out of nervousness. He knows he’s fucked.

“You fucking tried to leave!?” He loudly yells, the basket in his hand falling to the ground. Harry grabs both of Louis’ wrists and lifts him on his tippy toes, almost completely off the ground so he is at Harry’s eye level. It hurts, a lot, and Louis yelps but Harry pays no mind to it.

“Why the fuck would you do that!?” His voice is loud in Louis’ ears, and he has a feeling that that’s exactly what Harry wants. He can feel tears stinging in his eyes, and a slight sudden breeze that is trying to soothe him, but it doesn’t work. Louis only shrugs, his only response to both questions that were asked. But that only seemed to piss Harry off even more.

“I try to fucking be nice to you, I give you a little freedom by letting you sleep by yourself, and this is what I get as a thank you!? I’ve been extra nice to you, I could’ve been worse, Louis, but since you’ve been such a pussy, I’ve been careful and soft to you.” He’s saying so much that it all doesn’t process in Louis’ head. At this point, he’s shaking and sobbing out of fear that Harry will hurt him, and he shakes his head fast.

“I’m sorry I’m sorry!” His hope is gone, his confidence is gone. He lost the game, so now he has to start all over again with new tactics. “You’re right.” He sounds weak, he feels small, and he’s back to feeling like a baby again because that’s how Harry makes him feel. He’ll always feel like this.

He feels Harry slowly let go of his dainty wrists, and watches as Louis rubs his eyes with a defeated sigh. Cerulean innocent eyes meet Harry’s pained green.

And it's quiet for a moment.

“C’mon, let’s just go inside, Baby Lou.” The tall man wraps an arm around Louis’ back and pulls him into his side, leading him down the path back to the house. Louis cannot bring himself to break free; and he doesn’t understand why.

~**~

“No.”

“Don't start, Louis.”

“I am not letting you wash me.”

He could be pushing Harry’s buttons by fighting him on this, but there is no way Louis will let Harry wash his hair and his body in the shower. He can take care of himself, thank you very much.

After his trying to escape, Harry took him back to the house, gave him a cup of water and a few crackers to eat because he knew Louis was hungry; he hadn't eaten any breakfast since he got up and the running took a lot of energy, thus making him weak and more tired than he needs to be.  
When Louis finished his small snack, Harry carried him up the stairs to take a shower, but Louis will not budge because-

“I'm going to shower with you.”

It was one of his stupid rules, so Louis is forced to obey. But he won't let it happen because he is not comfortable with Harry seeing his body. Yeah he's kind of already seen it since he's changed Louis into different clothes, but that was only briefly. Right? He hopes.

“No you aren't.” Louis shakes his head, stepping away from the bathroom door with his arms crossed.

“Oh? And since when were you able to tell ME what to do?”

Louis gulps. It's a sign of him being nervous, but he hopes to god Harry doesn't notice. He holds his head high though, and tries to stand up for himself.

“I'm always allowed to speak. It's a right in America. Freedom of speech, and it should apply here.” It's a stupid argument, but in a way he has a point. But what he doesn't understand is why Harry is being so cold all of a sudden. At first he was caring and soothing, practically babying him and now he's treating him like he's his teenage daughter that's breaking a law. What the hell?

“Well guess what, babydoll? This isn't America.” And Louis drops it. Just like that.

He is tugged into the bathroom with his hand in Harry’s, which makes him yank it out of his grip. His hand is so small compared to Harry’s, which makes him feel like he's a small little kid- again. 

Is this a good feeling, or a bad feeling?

“Strip down please.”

Louis whimpers and shakes his head, cowering into a corner to make himself as small as possible. He honestly wants to shrivel up into a raison and die, or go back in time and warn himself not to trust this guy when he's sitting at the beach, but no matter what he wants to do, he can't do it. He's stuck.

“Louis. I've been incredibly nice to you. Remember the threat I made about if you ever tried to leave this house? I could've given you such a harsh punishment but guess what? I decided not to. So please just do this with me and we’ll get it done with as soon as possible so we can eat lunch and talk.”

It's enough to make Louis give in. He doesn't understand why Harry is even being nice to him, but he decides not to ask him why. He doesn't want to ruin his mood.  
He reluctantly slips off the pink nightgown and delicately places it in the hamper beside the door. He watches as Harry starts the water, adjusting the temperature before stripping his tshirt and jeans. He has incredible thighs, and long legs, both evenly and very well shaved. He looks up to his torso, tattoos littering his left arm, two birds on his chest, a butterfly covering his stomach, with leaves coating his lower abdomen.

“Is my body turning you on?” Harry cockily asks, smirking as his boxers drop to the floor. “Cmon Lou. Take the panties off and get in.”

He kept the panties on because he didn't want Harry seeing his dick. It's embarrassing enough that Harry is slightly larger- by a lot- but he also didn't want Harry trying anything or even staring.

“No.” Louis mumbles as Harry steps into the shower. He tries not to stare, but the man is so incredibly fit, and he especially has a nice ass, so it makes it hard not to.

“Louis. I will not ask you again. Get in here right now.”

Louis sighs and tugs the panties off, leaving them on the floor and steps into the shower, only to be tugged in when Harry grabs his wrist. He loses his balance (of course), and slips into Harry’s arms. Of course that happened.

“Please don't be insecure.” The older man murmurs, reaching a hand up to brush it over Louis’ now wet fringe.

“I don't even know you and I'm naked in front of you!” Louis suddenly sobs and turns around, so his back is facing Harry. He's incredibly embarrassed, with heated red cheeks and sudden tear-filled eyes. Why is he forced to do all of this crap when he doesn't want to do it?

Oh yeah. Because this is Harry. And Harry is the boss of him. Harry owns him now, so he has control of what he does. He falls to the floor of the shower and curls up, trying to make himself small again. He props his knees up and hugs his legs tightly as he bursts into fits of tears and sobs. He can hear Harry sigh, probably because he thinks he's acting like a baby but who cares. That's all he wants to be at this point, because everything is just too hard nowadays.

“Lou please don't cry. You're supposed to be happy.” Harry sits down behind him, and pulls the small boy into his lap and cradles him. But Louis thrashes, it's a deja vu from a few days ago and he tries to get off of Harry's Lap.

“I'm never happy, Harry!” He blurts, and it's a deep thought that no one knew about, but now it's out and it scares him because what if Harry tries to pry into his broken kingdom?

“What do you mean?” Harry asks, wiping the tears from Louis’ face. The hot water mixes in with the salted tears anyways, rolling down each of their body as they sit together with an atmosphere of fear and confusion.

“Forget it.” Louis sniffles and shakes his head. He doesn't even like to think about it, let alone talk about it.

“No. I want to help-”

“I said forget it!” Louis yells, and Harry backs off. But he's also pissed.

“Get the fuck out. I'll deal with you later.” He grumbles, voice deeper than it usually is. 

Louis chews on his bottom lip, slowly standing up as his body starts to tremble out of fear. He shouldn't have yelled at Harry.

He goes to say daddy, because Harry loves it when he is called that, but Harry just shoves him out. The small boy trips over the tub and falls to the bathroom tile, letting out a loud and painful yelp. Thankfully he landed on his side, not on his head, and he whimpers when he hears Harry chuckle.

Sadistic bipolar asshole.

He doesn't care about Louis at all. It's just a show, isn't it? It's a fake mood for Harry just to get Louis to trust him. Well Louis isn't that stupid anymore. He's not having it anymore. From now on, he's going to avoid Harry at all costs, and focus on a way to escape this mess, even if he has to take risks or miss meals or even break rules.

He's going to find a way out, and figure out all the little secrets Harry is hiding.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are going into place now !! from now on, its only going to get more interesting, with more of harry's dark secrets uncovered heh. enjoy x

A week later, Louis finds himself cooped up in the back porch, curled on the couch with a notebook in his arm, and a pink colored pencil in his hand. He's coloring in the wings of a butterfly, completing the tye-dye he attempted to shade. He isn't the best drawer, which is why he prefers the coloring books but Harry kindly asked him to draw him something.

The past few days have been remarkably calm, except the one day Louis shut Harry out and yelled at him in the shower. Louis got spanked for it, but instead of Harry’s hand, he was whipped with a belt. His bum still stung from the pain today, but thankfully it's not as bad as it used to be and he could just barely feel it anymore.

They haven’t spent much time together lately as Louis thought; usually Harry just sends him off to a room and tells him what to do in it while Harry went off god knows where. Louis even followed him one time, and had watched him disappear through the attic door with it tightly shut behind him. Louis even tried opening it after he was sure Harry was completely up there, but the door didn’t budge. There’s definitely something up there that Harry doesn’t want Louis seeing.

He had also been looking for possible escape routes during the week, thinking of ideas, making mental notes of possible windows he could escape out, but sadly, nothing he actually came up with was logical.

He eventually finishes the butterfly with a smile; it looks a lot like the butterfly tattoo Harry has on his stomach (he has spent a lot of time with Harry’s naked body. He doesn't want to admit this, but he likes it a lot), except it's got color to it and it honestly looks like a kid drew it. But maybe Harry will like it.

Louis smiles small and rips out the piece of paper, setting the notebook down and hurrying off into the house. Harry is preparing dinner- pork stir fry- as he reaches the kitchen with a shy smile.

“I made you something, just like you asked.”

Harry places the lid back on the skillet and walks over with a smile. He's dressed in jean shorts, thighs fully exposed and it takes every little ounce of energy in Louis’ body to keep from looking at them.

He takes the drawing from Louis’ hands and scans it over with a grin. “It kinda looks like my tattoo. Is that intentional?”

Louis nods, chewing on his bottom lip as Harry plants a kiss to Louis’ forehead.

This is how Louis has been acting lately, being a good little girl for Harry. If he follows the rules and doesn't throw fits anymore, then Harry will get closer to him and start trusting him, and maybe give him a bit of freedom. With that freedom, then he might have more time by himself, and with that solitude, he can lurk around for answers. It'll take time, but it’ll be worth the feminization and the pet names.

“It's so lovely, Baby Lou, I'll hang it up on the fridge, yeah? Such a good drawer for your daddy.” Louis cringes at Harry’s praises, but he plays it off with a cute smile, watching as the drawing is placed over an old drawing of a cat.

He used to always draw for his mom and dad, especially at school. Whenever he completed something nice in class, or completed the assignment in art class, he always took it home with a huge smile, showing it to usually his father, who would take it to his office to hang it up, or he’d hang it up in him and his mother’s bedroom. He always loved drawing with his dad, it was something that bonded the two together until his dad became too busy for it. It’s the reason Louis stopped doodling and coloring.

“Please go get ready for dinner. Don't want you eating in a pretty nightgown.” Louis obediently nods and hurries out of the kitchen, darting up the stairs to his room. Sadly he has to wear the feminine clothes but it's all part of the act, part of the escape plan. To get Harry’s attention, he chooses a tan-pinkish floral embroidered scalloped dress. Standing in the mirror, he smooths the fabric out and turns to his side to admire his curves. It reveals his hairy legs though, and it does make him feel a bit insecure but he tries to ignore it.

He has a bit of extra time to himself, so he decides to go snooping around. He wants to find out all the secrets of Harry; what’s made him like this, and what his weaknesses are so Louis can use them to his advantage.  
The small boy finds himself looking through every bedroom that’s unlocked, but most of them are drowning in solitude and dust, with nothing to find. He reaches one in the middle of the hall, closer to the attic door and written on the dark wood is ‘Olivia.’ It looks scratched in, rather than written with a sharpie and it looks like it’s been there for awhile, but Louis never noticed when he got a tour of the upstairs.

Wait a minute? Olivia? Who the hell is Olivia?

Louis’ stay here just keeps getting creepier and more confusing by the minute. He’s only been here for about ten days now, and he’s already discovered a few sketchy things. One, the boy in the sticker room, two, the gravestone in the garden, and three, this name, Olivia. Each all have to be tied to Harry, otherwise Louis wouldn’t have discovered any of them.

He hurries inside the bedroom, and closes the door behind him. Each piece of furniture is covered with white sheets, probably to keep them from getting coated with dust. It’s a bit dark, since each window is covered with drapes, but it looks a bit like his own room, except this one looks more like a master bedroom, just slightly smaller and less grand.

There’s gotta be something valuable in here, right? He knows Harry told him not to go looking for anything, but Louis has to. He checks each drawer of the dresser, only to find old clothes that seemingly haven’t been worn in probably years. He checks the vanity, but there’s only antique brooches and clips, as well as a brush, makeup, and a few other necessities. He scurries over to one of the nightstands and opens the drawer and- Eureka! He takes out a vintage white laced journal with a white bow in the corner and a few brooches on the cover. Could this have answers?

Satisfied with what he has found, he darts out of the bedroom (being sure to leave the room exactly how he found it with the door closed) and makes a run to his own. Once he’s back, he cracks the door and sits down at the edge of the king sized bed with this journal in his hand. Should he read it?

He goes for it anyways.

Louis opens the book to the first page, which says ‘this journal belongs to Olivia.’ In beautiful cursive, feminine writing. Again, who the hell is this Olivia person? Guess he’s about to find out.

In cursive again, he reads:

_May 12th, 2013.  
Dear Diary,_

_Harry gave me this so I could write. I’m not the best at expressing my feelings and thoughts, and I think he’s found that out so he bought me this and told me to write in it. I hope to god he doesn’t ever look through this, because there’s so much that he doesn’t know, and I just can’t talk about it with him because I don’t want to hurt him._

_I feel a little stupid because I’m only fifteen yet I’ve run away with him. He’s seventeen, so technically we aren’t old enough to stay by ourselves but he supposedly has a lot of money, and it really shows because this house is filled with luxurious things, and it’s quite big. It’s been abandoned for awhile, and he told me his parents used to live here, but then they moved to Cheshire when his mom was pregnant with him, but it doesn’t quite make sense to me. Nothing ever makes sense anymore._

_We ran away a few months ago, back in February. He never told me exactly why, but he said he loved me and he wanted me to go with him, and I didn’t want to lose him, so I went with him. I’ve been feeling uneasy about it for awhile now. I’ve talked to him about it but he tells me not to worry. But it hurts me, because he won’t let me- ___

__“Baby Lou!?” Harry interrupts his reading by calling up the stairs. “Time for dinner, sweetheart.”_ _

__Won’t let her do what? All Louis got from that little bit is that Harry ran away with a girl, much too young to leave her family, and she wasn’t all too happy about it. Louis assumes that Olivia must be a girlfriend of his. So the question is, what happened to them?_ _

__“Coming!” Louis quickly hides the journal under the mattress of the bed before hurrying out and down the stairs. Harry is already gone, and Louis finds him placing plates filled with stir fry at the table, each placemat neatly set with a glass of water at Harry’s seat, and a glass of chocolate milk at Louis.’_ _

__“You look lovely for dinner.” Harry notes as the two sit down, Louis immediately digging in since it feels like it’s been forever since he’s last eaten._ _

__“You’ve been so nice lately, Baby Lou.” Louis hums in response; the nickname developed awhile ago and although it should bother Louis, it really doesn’t. His parents used to call him that a lot when he was littler, and it’s comforting to hear it again, but at the same time it saddens him because it always reminds him of his dad. It makes Harry happy though, letting him call him that, so he says nothing and holds the tears in for later._ _

__“I’m stuck here, so I might as well be nice to you and get to know you for the time being.” Louis carelessly shrugs, scarfing down the last bit of food on his plate before taking a big gulp of chocolate milk._ _

__“Louis, I don’t want to fight you anymore.” Harry sounds so serious when he says this, and it makes it sound like the two are dating and trying to fix the problems between them. Louis isn’t sure if he likes that._ _

__“What do you mean?” Louis chuckles._ _

__He watches as Harry takes a napkin and wipes his mouth off, taking a moment to lick his lips. Louis will admit, it’s kind of hot when Harry does that because his lips are so plump and full, and it always looks like he’s wearing lipstick and it makes it hard NOT to stare, but Louis is just so curious sometimes because he’s never had a first kiss._ _

__“I mean, I only have the best intentions.” He smiles small. “I just want to take care of you, Louis. I want you to be my sweet babygirl, but how can I when you’re being so fussy and rude to me? You assume the worst out of me and that kind of hurts, because I want to kiss you and just care for you. Won’t you let me do that?” He pauses, as though he’s waiting for an answer but Louis’ eyes drop down to his lap, with his fingers suddenly becoming more interesting than this conversation._ _

__“I can tell you need someone like that. I can see it in your eyes.”_ _

__Louis’ eyes widen for a moment, and he looks up and over to Harry with a small frown, but tries to keep his mouth straight and neutral. Harry is trying to pry in, and he won’t let that happen._ _

__“I don’t need someone to care for me. I’m a big boy- or girl. Whatever.” Louis grumbles with a bit of attitude, and grabs his plate, and takes it to the kitchen to put in the sink for washing later. He tries to avoid Harry, but of course Harry is quick to get up from his chair and follow him._ _

__“Louis this is what this entire thing is about.” He sounds desperate, with just a hint of anger in his voice but Louis can tell that Harry is trying to keep himself calm. “I want to be with you, can’t you see?”_ _

__Louis groans and lays his head in his hands; he’s leaning against the counter with Harry in front of him. It feels like his head is spinning, and all he wants to do is fall right now and give up. Harry can’t give him what he needs, Harry is supposed to be bad, sinful. He’s supposed to be sadistic, he’s supposed to be angry one minute and tranquil the next. He’s not supposed to be his daddy, that’s not how it works. This wasn’t ever supposed to happen but he can’t control._ _

___Keep the act, Louis you’re failing already. ____ _

____It’s been a week now, and he’s been doing so well, but it’s all crumbling now, because Harry is so fucking confusing. Does he want Louis as his little baby, or does he want Louis as company for awhile because he’s alone? Why does he want Louis? He’s super confused, he has been for awhile, and it tires him out brooding and contemplating on why Harry is the way he is; always asking himself why he’s here, why Harry wants him. It would be nice to go back to how Louis used to be, feeling cared and loved. He longs for it, but he’ll never get those feelings again. Harry cannot give it to him simply because one minute he’ll act like Louis is heaven, but once Louis fucks up, he neglects him like he’s suddenly Hell, and Louis simply cannot put up with that much longer._ _ _ _

____“God Harry, I’m not your fucking lover!” Louis suddenly shouts, hopelessness quick to replace his entire being. At this point, he has no filter and he has to say it. “I’m just someone you’ve kidnapped, Harry! Get that in your fucked up head! All you’ll ever be is a fucking kidnapper! You’ll never be my daddy!”_ _ _ _

____And cue the tears. As always, every high must come with a low, and this definitely is the low. He’s all the way back to day one, and sadly, he just has to breakdown after such a good week with Harry._ _ _ _

____Harry goes to wrap his arms around Louis, a deep frown on his face with pain-filled green eyes but also filled with something Louis couldn’t quite make out, but the crying mess of Louis rushes past him and runs up the stairs with loud sobs filling the silence of each room he goes through to get to the stairs._ _ _ _

____The last thing heard between the two is the slamming of doors, followed by a dismal silence._ _ _ _


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feedback/comments would be appreciated !! thank you for all the views and the kudos; I didn't think I'd get so much!!  
> btw, if this chapter seems vague and short to you, then don't worry because that's kind of what I intended heheh. you'll see what I mean.

Louis is by himself for awhile; laying in bed with his head buried in the large fluffy pillows that laid in front of the headboard. The entire room (and even the house too) is completely silent, with the exception of the sniffles and whimpers falling from his nose and his lips. 

As much as he doesn't want to think about him, Harry still continues to circle his thoughts. Every time he lashes out at him, he always wonders about how Harry really feels about it, how he copes with it. Harry always reacts as though he's his father, yelling at him and sending him back up to his room, but is that the only  
emotion he really feels? Disappointment? Anger? Doesn't he ever feel bad about anything?   
At least Louis seems to feel kind of guilty about his actions, even though he really doesn't want to; he shouldn't even feel guilty in all honesty. But for some reason, it really bothers him that this is the only way that Harry reacts. Why even?

He doesn't even realize it until the moment it happens, but he is lifted up by a pair of strong arms and is carried bridal style out of the bedroom. He sniffles, keeping his eyes closed because he really doesn't feel like looking at Harry right now, and he reaches a hand up to wipe some of the tears from the corner of his eye.

He doesn't know where he's being carried, and frankly, he just doesn't care right now.

“You deserve a punishment but I think you need to be somewhere other than your or my room.” Harry’s low, raspy voice is in Louis’ ear, seemingly trying to calm the small boy down, which somewhat works but at the same time, Louis really doesn't want to talk to him, or even hear his voice.

“You always say that.” Louis murmurs, opening his eyes as he is set down. He looks around, sighing when he realizes he's in the playroom.

Harry looks at him with a quizzical look, eyebrows furrowed and eyes narrowed, “I always say what?” He sounds a bit defensive, which makes Louis back up a bit.

“You say,” and he mocks Harry’s low voice, “you deserve a punishment.” Harry opens his mouth, going to say something but Louis continues with his voice back to its original femininity. “If you think I deserve one, then why don't you punish me? You never do it.”

Harry’s face turns to a look of discomfort; Louis watches as the older one chews on his bottom lip, looking like he's trying to think of an answer but it seems like he doesn't even have one. Louis purses his lips as he waits, crossing his arms as Harry simply shrugs.

“Well because.”

Louis scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Bet you're just scared to.”

“Please, you don't know what I'm capable of.” Harry immediately shoots back. Louis laughs it off as if it's the world’s dumbest joke and shakes his head, turning around so his back is facing Harry and mumbles, “I'll believe it when I see it.”

Harry loudly growls and rushes past the door, slamming it shut behind him and locking it. Nice comeback, Harry.

Louis looks around the child-like room with a small smile. It reminds him of his own playroom he used to have, and it reminds him rof the playroom his sisters share now.   
Littered with toys, porcelain dolls, a small table with a tea set sitting on top, there's a toy box leaning against the wall, a music box on the same table with the tea set, and a covered dollhouse.

That's the only thing that seems to catch Louis’ eyes. The fact that it's covered up makes him wonder even more about it. He walks over to it, and kneels down in front of it. The white cover is coated with dust, and Louis slowly takes it off and sets it down on the floor beside him (he's taking a moment to cough because of all the dust that's now circulating in the air in front of him now).

The dollhouse is huge, and it's got three floors on it. Each room is Victorian styled, which is basically the theme for this entire house. There are dolls laying in beds, some sitting in chairs or couches, and as he looks through each room, each down to the detail with wallpaper and light fixtures, and even wooden flooring, one bedroom catches his eye.

It's a bit small, but the dollhouse bedroom has a red rug in it, with a king sized bed with a red duvet covering it, and he realizes that the wallpaper in that room looks just like the one in the room he calls his own.  
And he realizes that the master bedroom looks just like Harry’s own, the kitchen and living room all look the same as this house’s, the attic- well he hasn't been in the attic just yet but it looks like a realistic attic, which holds excess accessories and small paintings of the same doll face.

It's an exact replica of this mansion, it's just a dollhouse version. It probably means nothing but it's a bit creepy in Louis’ opinion because why would anyone want a dollhouse version of their own house? He's never heard of that before; it's a bit sketchy, but he decides not to question it any further.

He lets out a soft breath as he goes to pick up the doll lying in the bed in the master bedroom, but all of a sudden, the sound of a music box plays and fills the uncomfortable silence in this very uncomfortable room.

He flinches at the unfamiliar song, but it sounds like typical, elegant music from a music box. The chimes ring through his ears, and he slowly turns around to find out where the sound is coming from, even though he honestly doesn't want to.

He shrieks when he sees it, and he can't help the ‘oh fuck’ that leaves his lips. He quickly turns around, back facing the figure and he can feel his heart pounding in his chest. He tries to control his breathing, but his chest feels heavy from how nervous he is. He really hopes the figure didn't see or even hear him because he knows for a fact that that isn't Harry. He curls up with a nervous gulp.

“Nice sound, innit?” A thick but chirpy Irish accent fills the dead atmosphere when the music box finishes the song. It's so casual, and it makes Louis even more fidgety than he wants to be.

He really doesn't want to turn around.

“Any news, lately? Anything new?” He asks a few moments later. Louis can hear him sitting down on a chair at the table. “I haven't been out in awhile; haven't been on social media.” He adds.

“Who are you?” Louis blurts out the question with common curiosity. He finds himself standing up and turns around, only to see a blonde boy with pale skin, bright blue eyes shining in the sunlight that is currently soaking through the window. He's staring out the window with a longing look, eyes filled with a bit of pain but with wonder as well, almost like a child entering the gates of magic kingdom.

And that's when Louis realizes that he was the body lying in the bed in the sticker room. 

The guy speaks as Louis walks over, sitting down across from him. “I've been here for such a long while.” He murmurs, turning his head so he's now looking at Louis. “‘M Niall. I've heard you, screamin’ and yellin.’” The new guy, Niall, chuckles and shakes his head. “‘S only gonna make it worse for ya.”

“Yeah?” Louis replies, chewing on his bottom lip anxiously. Harry could come in any moment and bust them for talking, because Louis has a feeling that he shouldn't be talking to this guy. “What if Harry finds us talking?”

Niall only shrugs. “There's so much, Louis.”

Louis can feel his heart beating fast again. “What do you mean?”

“That you don't know, that I don't know. He's so fucked up.”

Louis actually chuckles at that, because he's not the only one that thinks that about Harry.   
Honestly, Louis just wants to pull this Niall dude into a hug because this is the first time in awhile that he's talked to anyone that isn't Harry. It feels kind of nice to have a friend, but he'll have to be careful about it.

“We can help each other escape. He has you held captive here?”

Niall nods, following with a sigh. The atmosphere in this room is a bit of forlorn, because Niall looks so tired and wanting to go home, and Louis looks so done with everything and wanting to escape. They could help each other, but it'll have to be in the shadows where Harry doesn't lurk.

“Whatever you do, don't go in the attic. It's creepy as fuck up there.” Niall rushes, standing up and rushing to the window. “I think he's coming, but please be careful, Lou.”

Louis looks back at the door with a concerned look, chewing harshly on his bottom lip (enough to draw blood. he's been doing that too much lately) before looking back at the blonde Irish boy. He only just met him, and they barely even said anything to each other. Louis just now was dumped into this room, and Harry already coming back for him? He wishes he had more time. He has so much to ask the blonde boy, so much to uncover.

“Wait!” The smaller of the two quietly calls out. “When can I see you again!? We need to figure some stuff out!” Louis runs over to the window, watching as Niall opens the window and crawls out of it, now on part of the roof. Louis prays for him.

“Soon.” And with that, Niall disappears.

Maybe Louis should take notes, and escape that way.

He hears footsteps, and quickly shuts the window. He finds something to do, and hurries to the table and places a tea cup and a plate in front of him. He sets a porcelain doll in the chair across from him and starts pouring invisible tea in a teacup for her. He decides to name her Lottie.

“Here’s your tea, Ms. Lottie.” He grins and sets the tea down on the cup that's in front of her. “Doesn't it taste lovely?”

He continues pretending to play the game while Harry walks inside with a fond smile, walking over and sitting down in an empty chair. 

“May I join?”

Louis is taken aback, but he immediately nods and grabs another teacup and a small plate to go with it. He pours invisible tea into it with a shy smile and places the cup down on the plate, handing it to the older man. “Here ya go.”

“Well aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?” Harry chuckles, and takes a sip of nothing.

The small boy lets out a nervous laugh. “Oh. Of course.” And now he's blushing because he would rather play without Harry. “Ms. Lottie, this is- uh-” he doesn't want to say it but he forces himself to anyways. “This is daddy.”

“What an interesting name you have, Ms. Lottie.” He clinks his teacup with the doll’s teacup and proceeds to take a drink. “Very nice tea, Baby Louis.”

“Lottie is the name of my sister.” Louis looks down, with a faint smile at the thought of his little sister. Even though she might be a great pain in the ass, he still loves her so much. They used to have great moments like these, playing together all day as though their youth was infinite. He remembers these moments like they happened yesterday, and he’ll  
always cherish them.

“Yeah? You miss her?” Harry asks, reaching over to grab Louis’ hand. He brushes his thumb delicately against Louis’ dainty knuckles, with so much love and care, and Louis can't bring himself to pull away, simply because he loves the attention right now.

“Harry?” Louis decides to change the subject, because he really doesn't want to talk about his family right now. Of course  
he misses them, but he really doesn't want to remind himself of how much it hurts.

“Yes, baby?” Harry finishes the rest of his invisible tea, and gives Louis his full attention.

“I mean, daddy. I just wanted to apologize for yelling at you and hurting your feelings.” This is totally part of the act now. He's going to try this all over again and hope for the best.

But doesn't he actually mean it when he says he's sorry?

“I'm sorry too, Baby Lou.” Harry sighs; he seems upset with himself but he manages to throw Louis a small smile. “I'm just your captor, I’m not your boyfriend, or your daddy.”

Wait wait that's not what Louis wants. Wait yes it is! Wait, he's so confused now. After all that stuff about Harry saying his body belongs to him, and that he owns him now, he's saying it's not true now? Or?

“W-wait-”

“No it's okay, Lou. What you said was completely right. I'm not your daddy, nor will I ever be. I can't give you what you want because I don't know what you want.”

“I-”

Wait what? Louis’ stuttering, he doesn't know what to say. He's completely confused now because what the hell is Harry saying? What does Louis want? He wants to leave, right? But he also wants to see what Harry can give him- but he doesn't because Harry is a sadistic creep. Right?

“Baby Louis.” Harry whispers. He's leaning closer, Louis has no idea what's going on. He’s so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he doesn't even realize that Harry is pressing his lips to his own. His eyes widen, Harry’s eyes close, and he stares at Harry as he attempts to initiate a real kiss. This isn't supposed to happen; Harry should not be kissing him, and Louis shouldn't want to be kissing him back, but he starts moving his lips in synch with Harry’s, following his lead because he has no idea what he is doing.

He has no idea what he is doing.

He has no idea WHY he's even doing it, but he kind of likes it? Is he even supposed to be liking it? All those negative thoughts about Harry fade away, and the happy thoughts of being Harry’s baby swirl around his mind to create a blissful kind of mood, and although Louis doesn't want it, he's stuck with it, and he kind of feels great.

Harry is lifting him up and laying him down on the floor beside the table, being sure not the break their molded lips. Louis doesn't know where this is going, but he can hear his subconscious telling him to keep it going, and to give Harry a chance, but he can't. Harry is so fucked up and weird, he's sadistic and he causes so much emotional, mental pain. Louis can't live with that.

But what if there's more to Harry that he hasn't discovered?  
Louis always tries to look past people's negative flaws, he tries to see the good in them but sometimes that doesn't always work out, and it leaves him torn. 

His father left. But he still loves him; he still longs for him.

But, he doesn't want this happening with Harry.

Harry is straddling him as he moves his lips passionately against Louis,’ but Louis starts freaking out when he feels Harry’s groin grinding against his own.

“N-no.” He mumbles against Harry’s mouth, and turns his head to break the ongoing kiss. Thankfully, Harry stops immediately and is quick to get off of him. In all honesty, Louis thought he was going to get raped.

“That's okay.” Harry smiles, and lifts Louis up bridal style, and then presses a kiss delicately to the frazzled boy’s forehead and walks out of the playroom. “Let's give you a nice warm bath, Baby Lou.”

Louis’ head is spinning, he feels dizzy. He's honestly so confused; he feels like his invisible tea has been drugged with a sleep pill or something to make him feel this way. He mumbles nonsense as he tries to keep his eyes from falling shut but he fails, and he is greeted with an endless dark abyss that had overtaken his mind.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis wakes up in his headspace, which doesn't seem to last for very long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for taking a month to update this !!! at first I thought "oh my god I have no idea what to do for this chapter" and it took me a month to figure out that I originally planned for the last chapter to continue on in this chapter so. it probably sounds confusing but whatever; I haven't given up on this fanfic so don't worry !!!

When Louis wakes up, he is immediately engulfed in warmth. As his eyes slowly open, he immediately sees that he is in a bathtub. The water is a pastel pink, with a lavender scent lingering in the air surrounding him. His entire body is exhausted, and the small boy immediately assumes that Harry must’ve done something to him to make him fall asleep as suddenly as he did; he feels weak- just like always.  
He lays his head against the wall that the tub is pressed against, eyes fluttering shut as he struggles to keep his drowsy eyes open. He doesn’t remember much- is he supposed to? He can barely think, he just wants to sleep.

“Louis?” He was on the verge of dozing off until Harry’s soft voice filled his ears, alarming him to stay awake.

“Hmm…?” Louis murmurs, slowly looking up as his eyes flutter open. Harry kneels down next to him with a small smile across his plump lips, and he reaches over to grab Louis’ dainty hand. Louis’ body slumps down, with his chest being slowly covered with the pretty water; the water goes up to his neck, and his head leans against the wall of the tub and he stares at Harry with droopy eyes and front teeth chewing at his bottom lip. He admires Harry’s man-bun and cracks a small smile.

In a soft voice, “I already washed you.” He is smiling, gentle and fond.

“”M tired.” Louis murmurs. He slowly sits up with his back once again leaning against the wall of the tub, watching the ripples in the pink water as he brings his knees up to his chest, hugging them tightly like a child would. He hears Harry chuckle beside him.

“I know, sweetheart.” A whine leaves Louis’ lips. He doesn’t seem to have a filter at the moment, seemingly unaware of where he is and what’s been happening.

He wants to be held.

“Daddy.” Harry immediately smiles (they’ve made progress). He is quick to stand up and grip Louis’ sides as the small baby boy makes grabby hands at him, delicate with him as he gently lifts him up, water droplets immediately falling from the boy’s skin and dripping down to the wonderland of pink below him. He gently sets the boy down and immediately wraps his dainty body in a white towel with a pink cat embroidered at the bottom, starting to gently dry and ruffle up his damp hair with the hoodie attached to the towel.

Meanwhile, Louis is completely confused with himself, because why does he have the desire to be Harry’s little baby boy? Why can’t he think straight?  
He isn’t supposed to be wanting this, but he wants it so badly, to be held and loved again, but with Harry? Harry is fucked up, he’s bipolar, doesn’t he remember?

But sadly, his mind won’t let him think or worry or feel stressed about anything. Instead, he feels small and fluffy and he just wants to curl up and fall asleep to a lullaby just like he did when he was a child.

“Is Baby Lou feeling okay?” Harry asks, a small frown tugging at his lips as Louis shakes his head no.

“What’s wrong, doll?” Louis is lifted up bridal style by Harry’s impossibly strong arms, and is taken out of the bathroom where the pink bath is ignored. He is taken to Harry’s bed, and is laid down on Harry’s side. With that, Louis immediately turns to his side, facing Harry, and curls up into a small ball.

He doesn’t want to feel like this, but he finds himself loving every minute of it.

“Why am I so sleepy?” Louis murmurs, rubbing his eyes with the balls of his fits. Harry falls into heart-eyes, cooing at how cute Louis is when he’s in his headspace.

“Just something I injected, baby. You’re fine.”

Louis goes to say something but he forgets last minute. He can now feel Harry trying to tug the fluffy warmth of a towel off him, but Louis whines and rolls away out of his reach.

“Gotta get you dressed for bed, baby.”

“But ‘m hungry.” At the appropriate time, Louis’ baby tummy rumbles, and he looks up to Harry with a small giggle leaving his lips. He remembers not having dinner since he was in the playroom-

And that was when Harry kissed him. As he remembers it, the scenes playing in his head, his pointer finger is brought up to his lips, the pad of his finger running over his bottom lip causing little faint tingles in the skin of his lip, which causes him to shyly smile. Harry is watching him with a questioning look, narrow curious eyes but a fond smile across his lips as he examines his baby.  
Louis remembers the taste of Harry’s lips, how they tasted of sweet spearmint, and he loved it. Harry’s lips are so full, so soft and awfully skilled, and Louis wanted more the more he thought about it. He will never admit that to Harry.

“Right, right.” Harry speaks after regaining composure, reaching into his closet and walking back with a lace nightgown. Louis sits up because he wants to be good for Harry, and watches as he slips the towel off him and easily slides the gown down his head, arms fitting through the arm holes. He then stands up, with Harry sliding a pair of panties to match on and up his legs, making him look like a sleepy, pretty princess.

Usually Louis would freak out about this, but he doesn't care now. His head is fuzzy and he's half asleep, and he just wants Harry to hold him.

After dressing his babydoll for bed, Harry takes Louis’ hand and leads him out of the master bedroom to the stairs.

Louis swears he saw Niall out of the corner of his eye when turning left down the hall.

“Sleep well, my love?” Harry asks, leading Louis slowly down the stairs. Louis is still a bit hazy from the drug he injected in him, so he doesn't want to rush himself or make himself move too fast.

“‘M just hungry.” Louis pouts as the two finally reach the kitchen. He can see out the window, and how dark it is outside, the world around them asleep while they stay awake, always awake even when they're asleep.

“I know, baby. How about I feed you a bit and we go to bed? It's past your bedtime.” Louis is sat down at the kitchen table and watches as Harry starts preparing him a snack- a fruit salad to be exact. The house around them is silent, with the occasional creaks from upstairs, and the sound of the wind gusting from outside; the house is too big to hear it move with the wind.  
To pass time, he looks down to his nails, examining each one with a small pout on his lips. He's always wanted to paint them, just to see what he would look like, but he never found the right time to do it since he was never alone.

“I want to paint my nails.” Ten year old Louis spoke with a shy smile. His father averted his gaze from the newspaper to his son with a small smile.

_“You can do whatever you want, little one.” His father paused for a moment, as though he was thinking. “How about I paint them for you and we can have a bit of fun like we used to?” ___

__Louis’ breath suddenly hitched, body tensing as he slowly looks up to Harry as he set the bowl of fruit down in front of him. He did not like thinking about his dad, the thought of him haunted him, feeling as though he never left him and that he's with him forever. He doesn't want to remember, but he is forced to._ _

__And instead of feeling hungry, Louis feels sick to his stomach._ _

__“I don't wanna eat, anymore.” This feeling is starting to go away, the fuzziness of his head, the desire to be held and to be treated like a child. He felt it slipping from his head, with reality slowly entering and reminding him that he is seventeen, and being currently held captive._ _

__“Babe c’mon, you need to eat.” Harry lifts up the fork and strikes it through a piece of pineapple, holding it up in front of Louis’ mouth.  
But Louis shakes his head, his stomach is churning and not in the good way. He feels dizzy, he's exhausted, he's mentally and physically weak and-_ _

__“Oh god-” Harry yelps when Louis suddenly throws up over the bowl, the contents of his stomach coating the fruit salad, and his own hand, and the pineapple on the fork._ _

__“Let me leave..” Louis weakly speaks, looking up to Harry with a pained look in his eyes. His cheeks are pale, bags coating the skin underneath his eyes, with chapped lips._ _

__“You’re sick.” He watches as Harry stands up, throwing the bowl into the sink, causing it to shatter into pieces. “You aren't going anywhere.” And then he murmurs something along the lines of “well that didn't last long” and is quick to wash his hands before lifting Louis up bridal style._ _

__“No I'm not sick I-” What didn't last long? His eyebrows furrow, teeth chewing on his chapped bottom lip as Harry carries him back up the stairs. What just happened? Where did the fuzzy feeling in his brain go? Why does he feel big now, feel like a teenager now?_ _

__“You are. You just threw up. I need to take your temperature and make sure you don't need to go to the hospital.” Harry shakes his head, walking into his own room and making his way back to the bathroom._ _

__“Harry please listen to me!”_ _

__He stops walking, and instead sets Louis down on the edge of the bed. He then squats down in front of his small boy, smiling small at how Louis’ feet don’t even touch the floor. He's so small, and so cute. He wants to hold him._ _

__He places his hands on Louis’ thighs moments later and gently kneads his fingers into the soft skin on his thighs, in hopes of calming his little baby._ _

__“What's wrong, Baby Lou?”_ _

__“I-” Louis pauses; it’s really none of his business but he has no one else in his life. Plus, if he escapes, Harry will never see him again so maybe it’s best to tell him, because that way Harry won’t go looking for answers from him.  
But he backs out at the last minute instead. The way Harry is looking at him, with wide eyes filled with worry, it makes him feel worse. He doesn’t need to know anything about Louis’ personal life, or his past, or anything in relation to Louis William Tomlinson. He’s always been so reserved about his life, always closing people off and spending nights in his room brooding. He often finds himself lying in bed in a pensive mood, and he knows he wants to live, but how can he with the void in his life?_ _

__“Louis?” Harry is still up in his face, but it doesn't seem to bother the struggling boy. He averts his gaze to Harry, eyes wide with a prominent sea-glass green staring into his gray-pained blue._ _

___He wants to feel alive, but he still wants to be held._  
But he wants to go home.  
And he wants to stay. 

__He's just tired of feeling conflicted all the time. Go home, go home, escape faster, try harder, but what if he can restart here? The more he thinks about his life, the more his head feels heavy. It always constantly feels like someone is pounding on it with a sledgehammer while trying to remind him of all the events he went through as a child. He buried everything in his subconscious, hoping that it'll never come back to him and that it'll be forgotten but it always comes back to haunt him. He feels dirty that he liked it._ _

__He finds himself leaning forward to lay his forehead against Harry’s eyes fluttering closed with a soft sigh leaving his slightly parted lips. Harry watches him with a small frown, eyebrows furrowed as he leans in to press a chaste kiss to Louis’ chapped lips. Delicacy is all he cares about right now._ _

__“Bedtime, Louis.” Harry murmurs against his lips as Louis wraps his arms around Harry’s neck with the shake of his head._ _

__“Not yet.”_ _

__Harry sighs and with the grip on the back of his thighs, he lifts Louis up and carries him out of his room to the room across, the red bedroom where Louis first started. By the time the exhausted boy was laid down, he was asleep, curling into a ball as Harry cuffs an ankle and chains it to the bedpost, so Louis cannot do any wandering at night and in the morning._ _

__He's been prodding around, Harry is aware of it. But he will not find out any of what Harry’s hiding. There's simply too much of his dark side that he doesn't want Louis discovering._ _


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER IS SO HORRIBLE IM APOLOGIZING IN ADVANCE !!!!
> 
> I'm not happy with this chapter but honestly I need to get things moving and rolling so I'm publishing it sigh I'm sorry if it's horrible and I'm especially sorry for taking awhile to write this !!! I've been busy with finals but I'm finally finished so don't worry, I'll be updating more often now :)
> 
> btw, I published a new fanfic called Desirable so go check it out if you love styles twins and asylums!

Louis’ eyes flutter open to the sounds of a faint murmur beside him, tickling the inside shell of his ear which then causes him to scrunch up his nose. As he tries to recall yesterday, he's left a little dazed and confused because he can't remember much from yesterday at all. And as he tries to think and remember, his head gets heavier and heavier each minute.  
His eyes scan the room, the sudden feeling of deja vu circling his subconscious when he is reminded of his first day in this place, in this bedroom. He remembers it exactly, waking up chained to the headboard, utterly confused and scared. And look where he is now, almost the same.  
The room is just like it was when he first saw it awhile back. Clean, blood-red drapes covering the sunlight that should be sinking through the windows, making the Victorian styled room darker than he would've liked. The duvet only covers three fourths of the bed, because of how much of a heavy and messy sleeper Louis can be; he then notices that it's starting to fall to the floor on his left side. He lazily giggles.

“Finally you're awake.” A thick Irish accented voice speaks loudly beside him, causing the small boy to wince.

“Niall!” The Irish blonde squeaks when Louis throws his arms around his neck, hugging him close with a sigh of relief. A smile curves upwards in the corner of Niall’s lips as he gently pats Louis’ back, eventually removing the frail arms from around him.   
After the following events, Louis is more than glad to see Niall beside him. He desperately needs someone other than Harry to talk to.

“I've been trying to wake you up for like, ever.” Niall chuckles. “Harry went out, thank god. I wanted to ask where he was going but me and him haven't really had a proper conversation since he brought you here.”

Louis slowly sits up, rubbing his eyes with the balls of his fists as he averts his gaze over to Niall. He’s already fully dressed for the day, red polo, black skinny jeans. Louis’ face falls into a small dismal frown because he's stuck wearing feminine clothes, and Niall gets to wear normal clothes. 

“He cuffed your ankle to the bedpost but I was happy to take it off for you.” Niall grins proudly, eyes widening with a sparkle in them as he points to the post with the chain currently locked around it. 

But Louis disregards that because he doesn't really care about that right now. He needs to know what happened to him last night, needs to remember in case he said anything wrong.

“Niall what happened last night? Do you know?”

Louis doesn't remember much because of the lingering affects of the drug Harry injected in him- whatever it was- and no matter how much he tries to remember, it just wouldn't come to him. He remembers getting out of the tub and Harry dressing him into a nightgown and panties, but what else?  
His gaze turns to the covered window when the faint sound of a train’s whistle fills the tense air between them. 

“I dunno, Lou.” It's all Niall had to say to him.

“Do you think you know what happened?” Louis’ desperate for answers at this point. And with Harry being gone, it makes everything feel worse.

“I mean, he gave you a drug that made you sleepy, and I'm guessing you woke up in your headspace?” Niall shrugs, getting up off the bed to stretch his legs out. Louis watches, but his mind is elsewhere when he learns the new term, headspace. Headspace, headspace, a word he's never heard of. He makes a mental note to ask Harry because it's only appropriate to ask his stupid daddy.

“Well since he's not here.” The attitude within Louis suddenly changes to a more rebellious one, a small smirk across his lips as he stands up. He looks to Niall, “I can go snooping.”

And as Niall goes on about all the times he's been caught looking around Harry’s things, his conscious reminds him of the diary he has hidden under his mattress, the diary of the mysterious girl who went by the name of Olivia, who is somehow tied to Harry and his past.

He rushes to the right end of the bed, moving all of the blankets and the duvet out of the way so he can lift the mattress up. Niall watches with a raised eyebrow, but helps anyways by lifting the mattress up so Louis can grab the laced cover diary; just how he found it.

“Holy shit, Lou. What is that?” Niall asks with curiosity evident in his voice. He stands closer to Louis so he can see better, watching as he opens the diary to the first page.

“‘This journal belongs to Olivia.’” Niall reads out loud, running his finger over the inscribed cursive letters. “Who the hell is Olivia?”

“I already read some of the first diary entry when I first found this.” Louis turned the page to the first official entry, sitting on the edge of the bed with Niall next to him. He scoots closer to see. “Here I'll read it again.”

_May 12th, 2013.  
Dear Diary,_

_Harry gave me this so I could write. I’m not the best at expressing my feelings and thoughts, and I think he’s found that out so he bought me this and told me to write in it. I hope to god he doesn’t ever look through this, because there’s so much that he doesn’t know, and I just can’t talk about it with him because I don’t want to hurt him._

_I feel a little stupid because I’m only fifteen yet I’ve run away with him. He’s seventeen, so technically we aren’t old enough to stay by ourselves but he supposedly has a lot of money, and it really shows because this house is filled with luxurious things, and it’s quite big. It’s been abandoned for awhile, and he told me his parents used to live here, but then they moved to Cheshire when his mom was pregnant with him, but it doesn’t quite make sense to me. Nothing ever makes sense anymore._

_We ran away a few months ago, back in February. He never told me exactly why, but he said he loved me and he wanted me to go with him, and I didn’t want to lose him, so I went with him. I’ve been feeling uneasy about it for awhile now. I’ve talked to him about it but he tells me not to worry. But it hurts me, because he won’t let me go. Go outside, go home, go to the store with him. I can't leave, I feel so confined. We’ve been by ourselves for a few months now, and even though I'm with him, I still feel so lonely. Will I ever get to see my family again?_

_Sincerely yours,  
Olivia x_

“Wait so Harry had a girlfriend!?” Niall shouts, taking the book for himself and starting to flip through the pages. As Louis watches him, he wonders if Harry kidnapped her for himself, and forced her to stay with him like he's doing with Louis and Niall. Did he really used to be THAT fucked up even at such a young age?

“Yeah most of this is about Harry, she mentions him a lot.” Louis assumes as Niall flips through the diary and skim reads most of the pages. It makes sense. 

“I think Harry needs a mental hospital if he was this fucked up even at seventeen.”

Louis rubs his eyes as he sits down on the edge of the bed, fumbling with the duvet with furrowed eyebrows. “What I want to know is what made him so fucked up like this. I mean, he couldn't have ran away with her with the snap of a finger. There's gotta be something more to this story.”

“Or he just really wanted to get away with her and keep her all to himself. Where is she now?”

“I dunno.” Louis mumbles, taking the diary back from Niall and hiding it back under the mattress. “We’ll figure it out.”

“I'm not even sure if I want to.” Niall chuckles. “He's a monster.”

It's silent between them, that is until a door downstairs is opened and loudly shut. Niall’s eyes widen, and he waves goodbye to Louis before quickly darting out the bedroom with the door closing behind him. Not another thing spoken.

Harry is home.

Louis quickly gets back into bed, covering himself with the duvet and curling up with his head on the pillow, eyes closing to make himself appear as though he’s been asleep. He can hear loud boots trudging up the stairs, walking down the hall, until they stop in front of his own room. He can hear Harry walk in, whispering things that Louis cannot quite make out because he's falling back into slumber. He hears the footsteps getting closer, beside the bed, until he feels something being placed on the bed by his feet.

“Go wake him.” Harry murmurs. Louis can almost hear the smile that Harry might have across his lips.

But before anything can wake him, Louis pretends to slowly open his eyes with a fake yawn leaving his lips as he averts his gaze to Harry. He's dressed in a floral button down, black skinnies, with a perfectly molded bun in his hair. 

“Hey baby.” He smiles widely at Louis, sitting down on the edge of the bed to  
comb his fingers through Louis’ messy hair. “How was your sleep?”

“It was okay.” Louis lazily shrugs, leaning up into Harry’s touch with a satisfied sigh.

Suddenly, something nudges Louis’ lower back, causing him to squeak and quickly lay on his back. To his left, a small fluffball persian stands beside him, looking up to him with a small meow leaving it’s lips. Not even expecting it, Louis gasps and immediately lifts the small kitten in his arms, bringing it close to his face as the cat nudges it's cold, wet nose against his cheek with a purr filling the silence.

“Oh my god, Harry is this for me!?” A wide smile curves upwards on his thin lips as Louis averts his gaze up to Harry, who is smiling fondly as he sits down on the edge beside his thighs.

“Of course, baby.”

Louis looks to the cat, pressing a delicate kiss to the top of its head for affection.

“It’s a boy. I got him for you because I didn't want you to feel too lonely here with just me.” Harry shrugs as he awkwardly scratches the back of his neck. Louis notices this, and cocks his head to the side for a moment as he studies Harry, and how his lips look redder and more plump than usual. So for a thank you, Louis sits up and leans over to press a kiss to Harry’s lips, with the gesture being fully returned before Harry pulls away.

“You’re welcome, Baby Lou.”

“I think I'll name him…” Louis pauses for a few minutes, trying to think of a great name in his head. After what seemed like forever, he announces, “I'll name him Freddie!” Louis looks down to the cat as he meows up at him, and Louis meows right back at him which earned a chuckle from Harry.

“Well he's all yours, sweetheart, Freddie his name shall be.” Harry gently kisses Louis’ temple before standing up and heading back to the door.

“Wait!” Louis lifts the cat up and hurries out of bed, Harry turning around with raised eyebrows as the smaller of the two rushes over.

“Hey why aren't-”

“I'm hungry. Can we please have lunch, daddy?”

And Harry is beaming, wrapping an arm around Louis’ shoulders and leading him out of the dark room into the hall, down the stairs so he can settle him in the living room.

“What would you like to eat?”

Louis shrugs as he sets Freddie down on the couch, only to wrap his arms tightly around Harry’s torso and hug him close, as though he's his own life-sized teddy bear. He isn't quite sure where this sudden affection is coming from, but it's making Harry happy and smiley, and that's all that matters to him right now.

He can feel Harry’s arms wrap tightly around his dainty body, pulling him closer so his head is laying on his chest, murmuring, “my sweet babygirl” into his ear.

“You missed me, didn't you?” Harry whispered after a few seconds of silence, pressing a chaste kiss under Louis’ ear.

“I don't want to be alone anymore.” Louis mumbles, without even realizing he said it.

“You have me, Baby Lou. And you've got little Freddie with you, too. You aren't alone.” Harry leans down to press a lingering kiss to Louis’ forehead, letting his lips stay pressed to the skin for awhile, Louis’ eyes fluttering closed as his body relaxes under the touch of Harry’s hand rubbing up and down his back, light murmurs so only those two can hear, “my special baby” over and over.

“I like when you're nice like this.” Louis whispers. “I don't like when you yell.”

“I won't anymore, my love. I care for you, I don't want to yell at you.” Harry soothes, hooking his fingers under Louis’ chin to tilt his head up, leaning down so he can press delicate kisses all over the boys face. Louis giggles, tightening his grip around Harry as his face scrunches up as a response to the kisses.

“You're safe with me, darling.” Harry presses one last kiss to Louis’ lips.

And Louis almost believed him.

******

“Baby I was thinking,” Harry speaks as he washes a plate in the sink, Louis standing next to him him drying everything off. “How about we watch a movie tonight?”

Louis squeaks, looking up to Harry with wide excited eyes. “Like out to the movie theater!?” He bounces up and down, squealing because he finally gets to go outside. It's been awhile since he's been out of this mansion; he needs sun and city energy, and you can't get that in a house.

“No baby.” Harry chuckles, shaking his head fondly as he finishes washing the remaining glasses. “I was thinking we could watch one in the porch since it'll be such a perfect summer night.”

Louis huffs and shakes his head, drying off the plate and the two glasses Harry had just handed him. “Harry I wanna go out. You never let me go out.”

“Don't start, Lou.” Harry harshly speaks as he dries his hands off with a paper towel. Sometimes when he was angry or mad, he spoke with such a harshness in his voice, like the way a mother speaks to her child when he's acting up in front of people she's trying to impress. It's always venom-filled in his dark voice, and it hurt Louis to hear it.

“What's a headspace?” Louis randomly changes the subject, the current childish mood he's in allows him to speak freely without filtering anything.

Harry laughs as he takes the drying towel from Louis, setting it down on the counter and pressing a kiss to Louis’ forehead.

“It's hard to explain, baby.”

Louis walks off into the living room, with a children's show playing and grabs the remote to turn it off. He cleans up all the crayons that are scattered on the floor in front of the tv, closing the coloring book as Harry walks in soon later.

“I don't wanna watch a movie.” Louis simply says, picking the crayon box up off the floor as well as his coloring book.

“Oh? And why not?” Harry takes everything from him and sets it all down on the coffee table. He places his hands on his hips with furrowed eyebrows and narrow eyes. He doesn't look too happy about that.

“I wanna know more about Olivia.”

Harry’s face falls, with his arms slowly falling to his side. He can see Harry gulp, an unreadable expression crossing his face as the two make eye contact, both not letting go until a response is made. Louis shouldn't have said that, and he completely regrets it.

His eyes turn dark. Abnormally darker than they've ever been, filled with a rage of fury and pain, Louis can clearly see it. He can see Harry’s chest rising and falling, jaw clenching as his hands ball up into fists. He's silently screaming, or tearing the place apart, and Louis can see it. Harry is too transparent.

But then his lips curve up into a wicked smile, a creepy Chesire grin, eye contact still in tact. “Who's Olivia?”

Louis’ breath hitches, immediately shutting his eyes tightly as he tries to stay calm. Harry looked different than usual, looking so… psychotic? The way he looked at Louis, with so much venom in his eyes but a wide Joker-Cheshire grin mixed together to create something so creepy and scary.

And when Louis opens his eyes, he immediately cries out when Harry isn't there. He calls out his name, looking everywhere downstairs and upstairs, but Harry never answers.

And even lying awake in that dark depressing room, with eyes closed as he tries to fall asleep, all Louis can see is that cheshire grin across Harry’s sinful lips. It haunts him, even in the dream he experiences that night.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> team harry or team liam? or team niall?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so sorry for the wait!!! I kinda got bored of this fanfic but then I worked through it and now I'm somewhat back into it!! 
> 
> longer chapter for you guys since you guys had to wait so long ♡

Another day of complete silence between the two. He is making no progress with Harry; they seem to be chasing each other in circles. Louis wants one thing, but Harry wants something completely different. In all honesty, Harry should just give up and let him go because whatever it is he wants, he will never get it.

Back in the red bedroom with every trace of window still covered, Louis sits on a red couch with his legs propped up, tucked against his chest with Olivia’s diary in his hand. He has been skim reading each entry, not really saying very much except for her lifestyle with him. They way she talks about him, it almost seems as though she’s distressed, and sick of him already. She often questions “should I have gone away with him?” And Louis always answers no, because she doesn’t seem to know Harry as well as she thought she did.

But one diary entry sparked Louis’ interest, having all good things to say about Harry for once, and how she feels happy and free with him.

_May 23rd, 2013.  
Dear Diary,_

_I have not written in awhile because I haven’t had much to say; I haven’t had much to think about. But lately, Harry has changed. At first, he was acting a little bit strict on me, not allowing me to go out and explore, and refresh myself with the scenery nature has to offer. But lately, he’s always reminding me how much he loves me, and appreciates that I’m here with him. He’s never lovey dovey like this; he’s horrible at explaining his thoughts and feelings. But maybe that’s why we’re so good together._

_We laid down on the couch watching the Spongebob Squarepants Movie, because I’m such a little kid sometimes, and he was telling me about how unhappy he was at home. I was surprised, because he had never been this open with me before. I know nothing about his family life, I don’t even know his parents. He would never let me come over to his house. But he said a lot about how he used to be so happy as a child, and it’s got me wondering, “what happened?”_

_He says he’s not so happy anymore, and when I asked him why, he completely shut me out and stopped talking. I’m wondering if it’s the pills he took this morning because he’s never opened up about himself._

_I really do love him, but sometimes it feels like I don’t know him._

_Sincerely yours,  
Olivia x_

The first thing Louis wonders about after reading that entry is the pills. Does Harry still even take them? Maybe Niall would know, he’s been here longer than Louis has. If not, then Louis still has a bit of new information on Harry. For him to be so happy when he was littler, and for him to suddenly change, something definitely has happened to him.

Louis takes a mental note of this, and bookmarks the page so he can show Niall later on. He stands up from the red couch and walks back over to the bed, hiding the diary back under the mattress in it’s usual corner and makes his way back to the door. He peeks his head out, with his stomach churning and groaning from how hungry he is. He skipped breakfast and lunch because he’s been avoiding Harry, and his devilish, creepy self. He also woke up this morning already dressed for the day, in a pinkish lolita inspired dress. Each time Louis looks down at it as he walks down the hall, he cringes because it’s not his style.

But he wears it anyways to please Ha- Daddy.

Why is this place filled with so many messed up secrets? He’s over thinking once again as he quietly makes his way down the wooden steps that lead to the first floor. But most of all, why does he care so much about finding all of them out?  
It’s almost like Pretty Little Liars. Each person has their own secrets that have yet to be uncovered. Louis, Harry, Niall, even Olivia- even though she’s dead. What if this is a game to Harry? If Louis can uncover his darkness, then maybe he’ll be free. Or he’ll just be stuck here even when he finds everything out. If he finds everything out.

“Lou is that you?” Harry hasn’t been calling him Baby Lou lately. Louis has a pretty good idea why. 

“Sadly.” Louis mutters, walking towards the direction of Harry’s voice. He’s lingering in the living room, watching a shitty soap opera- although it’s entertaining because of how poor the actors and actresses are.

“What was that, missy?” Harry sits up, grabbing the remote to the tv and shutting it off. He's dressed in a red floral button down (no surprise), black skinnies (another no surprise), and a pair of socks cover his feet. His beautiful natural curly locks fall just a little past his shoulder, and Louis is almost certain Harry’s got a touch of lipstick on his plump mouth, making it look redder than it normally is.

Honestly, Harry’s beautiful.

“Daddy, you-” Louis nervously gulps once he has Harry’s full attention. “You look really pretty.” A wide smile curves up on Harry’s lips, eyes suddenly wide with sparkles in them. Louis has never seen him like this before, and it kinda makes him feel good that he was able to make Harry feel something positive.

“Thank you, Baby Lou. That really does mean a lot to me.” Harry’s grin grows impossibly wider as he stands up from the couch. He then makes his way over to the smaller boy and pulls him into a comforting embrace that Louis finds himself relaxing into.

And with his frail arms wrapping around Harry’s torso, he presses his temple to Harry's chest as his eyes fall closed, taking the moment to just enjoy this, because times like these never come as often as he pleases. He feels Harry’s hand make its way to the back of his head, long fingers starting to stroke strands of Louis’ delicately soft hair. Harry's heartbeat is loud in his ear, only slightly speeding up as Louis gives him a gentle squeeze.

“Why's your heart beating so fast?” Louis asks, lifting his head up to look up at the man towering above him. Harry looks down at him, with the most tranquil look on his face, something Louis has never seen before.

“Because of you, sweetheart.” Harry smiles, leaning down to plant a chaste kiss to Louis’ forehead. He then pulls away, taking Louis’ hand and leading him into the kitchen, Louis following without even questioning, without another word.

It's moments like those where Louis finds himself feeling… fuzzy. His head turns to mush, with a lightheaded fuzzy feeling circling his mind. His stomach always churns with butterflies, and when Harry holds him like that, when he's so soft and gentle with him, Louis almost feels… small. Physically small, mentally small. And he’ll admit, he kind of likes this side of Harry.

“How about we go outside and pick some flowers for dinner. I've got someone coming over I want you to meet.” Harry announces. Louis is caught by surprise when he hears this, the part when Harry said someone is coming over repeating in his head over and over.

“Why is someone coming over?” Louis can only ask, watching as Harry takes out an orange pill bottle from one of the cabinets.

“Because he is a close friend of mine and he's in town visiting. He’s staying for the weekend so we can catch up.” He simply says, a faint smile playing at his lips as he pours out a tablet. 

“What's that?” Louis nods to the pill in Harry’s hand. Harry looks down at it, examining it for a few moments before popping it into his mouth and swallowing  
it dry. 

“Nothing of your concern, sweetheart.” He grumbles, walking to the porch door and opening it. “C’mon.”

Louis takes one last glance at the bottle (assuming it's the antidepressants) before making his way into the porch and out the door that leads into the backyard. It seems like it's been awhile since he’s smelled fresh air, which immediately makes him sigh happily in relief. The distant sound of an owl is heard, with many different high pitched sounds of bird’s chirps and hidden bugs communicating in their own language. There's a slight breeze lingering in the air, which cools Louis’ body as it brushes up against him. It's the little things that Louis misses.

“I used to spend all day out here.” Harry speaks, grabbing Louis’ hand and making their way through the yard, to the garden. Louis looks down, smiling at the feeling of the grass being squished against the bottom of his feet. He's missed that somewhat prickly feeling, and even the smell of the grass in a fresh summer day.

“I treated my flowers and my plants as though they were my babies.” Harry leads them back onto the brick path in the middle of the yard, which lead into the garden area. “When I was little, I always helped my mother plant and water. That's how I got into gardening.”

Louis follows close beside him, listening to everything Harry had to tell him without interrupting. The bricks are baking in the heat, and just like concrete, it's too hot to walk on. When the heat becomes unbearable on his skin, he yelps and moves back into the grass.

“I'm so used to it because I used to run barefoot all the time.” Harry chuckles, averting his gaze to Louis, who is already looking at him. Their hands are somewhat extended, due to how far apart they are and Harry tightens his grip on a possessive manner.

“Really?” Louis smiles, remembering all the times he's done it as well. When he was little, he always ran off from his parents while going out on a walk, and he always refused to wear shoes. Especially when him and his old neighbor, Eleanor ran around the house together, and he ran so fast he stubbed his toe.

“I've stubbed my toe before.” Louis smiles as he remembers one of the times it's happened. “It got infected and I had to go to the hospital.”

He hears Harry’s raspy chuckle and stops to sit down on a bench in the middle of the garden. Louis sits down next to him, keeping their intertwined hands in the middle.

“And how was that?” He asks after a few seconds of silence.

“I don't really remember. But I remember watching SpongeBob.” Louis giggles as his head lays on Harry’s shoulder, letting out an actual happy sigh. It's quiet between the two, except for their breathing but it's steady and soft. And it's all nice for once, a moment without yelling and screaming at each other, without Louis breaking down into tears or passing out. It almost seems like Harry is a whole different person than he was the first few days he was here.

“Me and my sister used to be so close.” Harry wonders aloud, staring forward at the woods off in the distance. “Sometimes I wish I wasn't me.” He murmurs, but Louis hears it and it has him lifting his head up to look up at Harry, who has tears in his eyes.

“What do you mean?” He asks, slightly frowning as a tear rolls down Harry’s cheek.

He watches as Harry shakes his head, teeth sinking into his bottom lip as though he doesn't want to say anything. His bigger hand suddenly lets go of Louis’ smaller one, and he slightly scoots away so there's a bit of distance between them. Just like their relationship.

“I am not a good person, Lou.” He finally responds, finally admits it.

And as much as Louis wants to think otherwise, he just can't. 

“What happened?” Louis whispers, placing his hand on Harry’s cheek and gently moving his head so the taller man will look at him. But Harry’s eyes are looking down, with more tears glistening and forming. This is the first time Harry has ever been so… vulnerable. This is his weak side, and it must only come out when he's nostalgic about his past.

“C’mon, Lou.” Harry whispers, moving out of Louis’ reach and standing up. He avoids Louis’ gaze, still speaking in a soft whisper filled with insecurity and vulnerability, “We need to pick the flowers for the centerpiece, and the herbs for tonight's special dinner.”

For the first time since he has been here, Louis actually feels bad for the guy.

****

As they walk back inside, Harry goes over a list of things Louis needs to do. Get dressed into something more presentable, comb his hair since it's all over the place, use proper manners, don't say anything stupid that'll make Harry look bad, yadda, yadda, yadda. In all honesty, Harry is completely stressing for no reason at all- at least Louis thinks there isn't a reason. Sure he's having a friend over who he hasn't seen for awhile, but is that really worth the panic?

And when Louis asked, Harry freaked out on him. “You don't even understand! It's been like, years!” His hand gestures are a bit over-exaggerated as he looks at Louis with wide eyes filled with a bit of nervousness and fear. “Years!” He repeats.

“Yeah, and?” Louis giggles, watching as Harry goes back to preparing a marinade for the chicken they’re going to have for dinner.

“Look Harry, sometimes I only get to see my friend once a year, and yeah I get a bit nervous but once I see him, I'm so relieved and happy because he's my best friend and we haven't seen each other in ages. It'll be the same for you and your friend. What's his name anyways?”

“Liam.” Harry almost immediately replies, pouring the finished marinade, which is made of herbs and oils, into a bag. He then grabs each raw piece of chicken and dumps them into the bag, only to seal it and shake everything around to coat the chicken.

“He seems kinda posh.” Louis admits out loud, which was only to be heard in his head. Harry chuckles, shaking his head fondly as he turns to face Louis, continuing with shaking the bag.

“He kind of is, to be honest. Very rich indeed.”

“And are you?” Louis asks, with curiosity in his voice.

“Go get dressed.” Harry smiles, turning back and facing the counter as Louis giggles. He makes his way out of the kitchen and trudges up the stairs, to his own red bedroom to get ready for this extremely important and fancy dinner.

“Why is Harry slamming everything?”

Louis suddenly winces when the complete silence is interrupted, Niall’s Irish accent giving him a small fright.

“Don't scare me like that!” Louis whines, looking at Niall as he playfully huffs.

“Sorry, I thought you noticed me when you walked in.” The Irish blonde laughs, standing up from the red couch and walking over to Louis by the closet. 

“No I did not.” The closet door is opened, and Louis looks through each outfit as he lets out a sigh. “Harry has some guy coming over. He staying for the weekend.” He isn't that much excited about it, but it'll be nice to finally talk to someone from the outside world.

“Jeez, that's honestly a surprise.” Niall bursts out laughing, slightly tilting his head back as he does so. “I didn't think Harry had friends.”

“Yeah neither did I.” Louis mumbles, but then loudly groans when he reaches the end of the closet line. “There's nothing to wear!”

“Yeah there is. You just refuse to wear all these lovely dresses.” Niall teases, taking out a pale pink floral sundress and holding it up against Louis’ body. “I think this is a winner!” 

“Niall! I can't believe you're actually encouraging all this- this-” Louis pauses, trying to find the right words but Niall only looks at him with raised eyebrows. “This femininity!”

“Don't you want to stay on Harry’s good side?” Niall asks, with all seriousness. Louis sighs as he is turned around, looking down at his feet as Niall unzips the back of his Lolita dress, helping him step out of it.  
He has talked about this with himself, how he has to stay on Harry’s good side for a positive ending to this nightmare. He hates the feminine clothes, and he hates the pronouns. It's completely evident but he needs to make Harry happy in order for him to get out of this place faster. He’ll just have to put up with it.

“Yes, Niall.” Louis rolls his eyes, but only playfully; and Niall smiles, helping Louis into the lovely floral sundress that Harry will absolutely love. It shows off his collarbones, which Harry will drool over, and the hem of the dress goes down to his mid-thighs, which will also have Harry going heart-eyes for. It's a perfect fit for him.

“Lou, you look beautiful.” Niall says, looking him up and down with a smile.

Dismissing the compliment, Louis playfully (and weakly) hits his bicep. “Oh stop.”

Niall leans in, but when the doorbell rings throughout the mansion, the two exchange a look. Raised eyebrows, pursed lips, Liam's here, and Louis isn't ready.

“Looks like this guy must be here.” Niall chuckles, walking over to the bedroom door and opening it for Louis. “That's your cue.”

“Please kill me.” Louis states as he walks over to the door, looking at Niall with actual pleading eyes. But Niall laughs, shakes his head, and pushes Louis out into the hall. What a traitor.

“Go get ‘em, pretty petal Louis!” Niall grins, with Louis rolling his eyes for the umpteenth time as he walks to the stairs standing at the top to watch the scene below.

Harry rushes to the door, quickly unlocking it and immediately pulling the man at the door into a tight embrace. From what Louis can see, this guy is a bit tan, with the sides of his head a bit shaved with hair laying fluffily at the top. He's wearing a white shirt, with a blue jean jacket and black skinnies. He can hear the two exchanging words, but he can't really hear very well. So he makes his way down the stairs with a shy smile.

“So good to see you, Harry. It's been such a long time.” Liam says as the two pull away. He's a bit tall, and has a beautiful wide smile (lovely white teeth that stand out), with sparkles in his puppy brown eyes. The two really do look happy to see each other, and Louis’ thankful for that because he doesn't want Harry panicking any longer.

Liam finally makes eye contact with Louis, and Louis immediately (and shyly) looks away. He didn't mean to interrupt their little moment and he hopes Harry won't be bothered by that.

“And who's this little kitten, Harry?” Liam asks, looking at Harry with a suggestive smile.

“Louis.” Harry replies, motioning for Louis to come closer. The small boy nervously gulps, and slowly walks up to the two older men and tilts his head up to look up at him. Again, he feels super small now- mentally, and physically.

“Such a pleasure to meet you, Louis.” Liam looks down at him, grabbing Louis’ frail hand and gently shaking it. “Such a baby kitten.” He murmurs, before looking up at Harry with another prize winning grin. “Where do you want me to put my luggage?”

“Oh Louis will take care of that, won't you babygirl?” Harry looks to Louis, giving him a look in the eye that says ‘you have no choice so say yes.’ And Louis nods, looking up to Liam with wide innocent eyes, teeth sinking into his bottom lip as Liam hands him his suitcase.

“Thanks, doll.” Liam says, bending down to peck Louis’ cheek. He then politely asks, “where's the bathroom? It’s been a long train ride.”

Harry gives Louis directions on which guest room to take Liam's things to, and is quick to guide him to the downstairs bathroom. Meanwhile, Louis drags the heavy thing up each stair, one at a time, small groans leaving his lips from how weak he's gotten. If he can remember, Harry said the second door next to his master bedroom.

“How's it going?” The familiar Irish accent asks, the sudden appearance causing Louis to jump in his place once again.

“Jesus Christ, Niall!” Louis whisper shouts. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

While trying to lower his heart rate, he listens to Niall laugh with the irritated roll of his eyes. He opens the door, walking into a large bedroom and sets the luggage down by the bed. He quickly walks back out and shuts the door behind him, and leans against it with a small sigh.

“I don't wanna go back down there.” He says, looking at Niall with a frown. “He seems like a pimp or something. He was definitely eye raping me.” Again, Niall laughs with the shake of his head, and presses his hand to the wall to somewhat keep his balance.

“Louis you're too funny. I like you better when you aren't in your headspace.”

Louis smiles small. “Yeah me too.”

“But hey, you'll be okay. It's just the weekend, right? You have today, Saturday, and then he’ll probably leave Sunday or Monday. You'll get through it. Maybe he isn't bad at all.” Louis smiles at Niall's advice, walking over to wrap an arm around Niall's waist for a side hug. He wouldn't be anything if Niall wasn't here with him; his mental health would probably be deteriorating if he had no one but Harry to talk to. He enjoys the little moments they have together, and cherishes it all.

“You're a great friend, Ni.” He kisses the blonde’s cheek before pulling away with a smile. “I should probably get back down there. Do you want me to bring up any food- well sneak it?”

“I'll just go when everyone's asleep. Tell me how the dinner goes! I'm gonna hide in your room.” Niall grins, before walking back into the red bedroom and leaving Louis feeling a bit more confident than before.

Walking into the dining room, Liam is sat in the chair across from where Louis usually sits, sipping on what seems to be an expensive champagne. Louis gives him a polite smile, and takes his seat across from the man. He sips on his chocolate milk, with Liam watching intently.

“So, you're Harry’s boyfriend I assume?”

Louis chokes on the milk as he swallows, bursting out coughing as Liam quickly grabs his own napkin and reaches over to cover Louis’ mouth. Louis spits most of the chocolate out into the napkin, mentally hitting himself when Liam balls the napkin up in his fist and sets it down beside his plate. Could he embarrass himself any worse than that?

He asks after Louis gains his composure, “are you okay? I'm so sorry I shouldn't have asked-”

“We aren't dating.” Louis says after wiping his plate off, since some of the milk in his mouth splattered onto it.

“Is everything okay?” Harry rushes into the dining room, with a look of worrisome and confusion as he looks between his best friend and his lover.

“Yeah Louis just kinda choked on his milk but he's alright.” Liam smiles, looking over to Louis for approval.

“Yeah ‘m okay.” Louis mumbles, avoiding Harry’s gaze.

“Okay, good. Well I just finished grilling the chicken. Louis can you help get everything?”

Louis groans under his breath (because of his laziness) but nods, getting up and walking into the kitchen. Harry presses a kiss to his forehead as he hands him a plate of grilled asparagus. “Thank you for helping, babygirl. It really means a lot.”

Louis only nods, placing the plate in the middle of the table, and repeating the same steps for the broccoli and the rice. He sits back down in his seat as Harry brings out the grilled marinated chicken, and sets it down in the middle before taking a piece for his plate. The three fill up their plate with the foods Harry skillfully made, with an endless conversation starting between Liam and Harry. As Louis eats, it almost feels as though Harry completely forgot about him as he listened to Liam's new and improved life.

“Still haven't found my own to take care of but that's alright. I'm patient, yanno? If I find the one, then I find the one. But I don't wanna come off as desperate, you know? That's why I wait for them to come. I don't go to them.” Liam says as he fills his mouth with broccoli. Harry nods, and takes a sip of his champagne before speaking.

“I haven't found the right one. But maybe Louis is, hmm?” Harry looks over to Louis with a proud smile, but Louis gimaces in response when Liam isn't looking.

After Liam swallows the broccoli in his mouth, he feeds into the new topic. “Yeah how did you two meet anyways? I've been wanting to know since I first saw the little kitten!”

Harry suddenly gulps, with the atmosphere between the three tensing up. There's an awkward silence, with Louis looking down to his three-fourths empty plate and deciding he's had enough to eat. Liam still waits for the answer, but Louis stays silence in hopes of Harry answering for them.

“I kidnapped him.” Harry announces.”

The silverware in Liam's hands suddenly drop, the fork and the knife clattering against the plate which makes an annoying scraping noise. He pinches the bridge of his nose, letting out a distressed sigh before mumbling, “I thought you were done with this, Harry.”

Louis slowly looks up, looking to Harry with an uncomfortable look on his face. He tenses up, watching as Harry stutters and looks around anxiously as though someone had found out a big secret and don't want it to spread around to everyone.

“Liam-” Harry starts, but he is quickly interrupted.

“Harry can I see you in the kitchen?” Liam looks as though he's trying to stay calm, looking to Harry with his lips pressed in a thin line. The two stand up because Harry doesn't have a choice, and they leave Louis alone into the kitchen to have a private conversation, despite the archway separating the two rooms.

They're whisper-yelling at each other, mainly Liam whisper-yelling at Harry and Harry just nodding his head and whispering, “I know I know.” But Liam says he clearly doesn't know. Louis can't quite make out what the two are discussing, but he knows for a fact it's about him.

“You can't just keep doing this, Harry!” Liam whisper-yells.

“I can't help it, Liam. I seriously can't.” Harry sounds distressed when he says it.

“You need to get help.”

“I don't need help!” Harry shouts for real, taking aback both Liam and Louis. Louis gulps, lip slightly wobbling as he looks away with a fearful frown, hoping this'll end soon.

“Harry. Let him go.”

“No.” Harry whines.

“Don't do this to him. I can see it in his eyes he hates it here.”

“He likes me, and I love him.” Harry almost immediately replies.

“You sound so obsessive. Are you doing this because of-”

“Don't you even say it.” Harry growls. “Don't you fucking say it.”

“Who? Olivia? Look, Harry. I'm just trying to help you-”

“No you aren't!” Harry shouts, with Louis wincing when he hears something shatter to the ground. “You telling me I'm fucked up does not help and you bringing her up makes it worse!” He shoves Liam out of the way before storming out of the kitchen, making his way to the foyer to walk up the stairs. “Clean all that shit up, Louis!” He shouts, before disappearing upstairs.

Louis slowly stands up, his shaky legs not allowing himself to move because of how scared he suddenly is. He looks up, seeing Liam with a look of remorse on his puppy dog face. “I'm so sorry.” He says, before starting to clear the table.

Louis grabs his own plate and half drunken chocolate milk, and lazily dumps it all into the sink. He suddenly feels so numb, and he can't find himself caring when he steps on a piece of broken plate, causing a cut to form in his foot. With Harry disappeared and nowhere to be found, Liam had to put him in the bath and wash off the wound, wrapping gauge around his foot once he was all dried off and cleaned up. They don't exchange any words whatsoever, because Louis ponders in a pensive mood, too deep in brooding and thinking to even realize Liam is talking to him.

Olivia’s name was mentioned, and she is the key to Harry’s inner subconscious that is driving him to insanity. Liam seems to know about this, so maybe Louis can pry some info out of him. 

“Don't talk about Olivia in front of him.” Liam says when they stop in front of Louis’ bedroom door. “It'll trigger this behavior.”

Probably the best advice Louis has heard about Harry ever since he's been in this hellhole.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i suck at updating i am so sorry for the wait!!! i really really am and im super sorry if you're disappointed with a short and ugly chapter but i kinda wanted to end it where ive ended it just to piss you all off :-) next chapter is going to get bad.

”Wait so he just completely flipped out and went AWOL?” Niall asks the next morning. When Louis had woken up- way earlier in the morning than he would've liked- Niall was already laying down next to him, waiting for him to wake up. After Louis allowed himself to fully wake up and start talking in actual sentences, he told Niall all of the events and conversations that occurred during the dinner, which ended up in a complete disaster.

“This Olivia person has really damaged him.” Louis chews on his lower lip the more he thinks about it. “I read an interesting entry yesterday. I forgot to tell you about it.”

Niall lays on his side, twirling a few strands of Louis’ hair with his pointer finger as he stares at the boy’s beautiful complexion, taking this time to admire the beauty and the softness that is Louis. “What about?” He murmurs.

“Just about Harry. He takes antidepressants and he's a whole new person when he does. I saw him take them yesterday, he was so different.”

This seems to spark Niall's interest, causing him to furrow his eyebrows and sit up, with his finger leaving the strand of hair from Louis’ head. “How different? What did you two do yesterday?”

“He was so calm, and more open. He told me a bit about his childhood, how he helped his mom with the garden they had. He used to run outside barefoot too. He said him and his sister used to be close, and I specifically remember him saying, ‘I wish I wasn't me.’ What do you suppose he's talking about?” Louis looks up to his friend, watching as Niall slowly nods and processes everything, as though he's analyzing every little thing Louis said and trying to form a hypothesis out of it. 

“Well I mean, he kidnapped us so I wouldn't wanna be him either.” And they're back to Niall and his cocky, comical self. 

Louis can't help the slight giggle that leaves his lips, shaking his head with the roll of his eyes. “C’mon, Nialler, I'm serious.”

“We still don't know much so I can't say. Whatever it is, it's got him super fucked up.” It's not like Louis has heard that before. It's true. Harry is completely messed up because of whatever happened in the past, and Louis isn't sure if he should help him recover or just escape and abandon him.

“I think I'm going to go look for him, see if he's okay, you know?” Louis slowly gets up out of bed, rubbing his eyes with a yawn leaving his lips. The long, pale pink lacey nightgown falls past his knees and down to the floor; the material is much too big for him but it was the only pajamas he had left in his wardrobe; everything else needs cleaning and Harry hasn't done laundry in awhile. Before he leaves, he quickly looks into his closet for a dress to wear, and decides on a pale pink sundress that Harry would love to see on him.

“I'll be chilling in here.” Niall nods, watching as Louis walks to the door and ends up curling into the sheets, covering himself completely as Louis opens the door, walks out, and closes it behind him.

Louis hates to be by himself in this house. Just creeping around the hall, peeking into Harry's room, it's an ominous, eerie vibe. And as he walks down the hall, calling for Harry's name, he can't help the uneasy feeling of eyes burning into the back of his head, feeling as though somebody is watching his every move. And out of paranoia, he turns around as quickly as possible to catch whoever is stalking him, but there's only an empty hall with just himself and-

“Freddie!” Louis calls for the tiny kitten that's lounging on the wooden floor, eventually snapping his fingers to make the little guy come over to him. He does, quickly standing up and scurrying over to Louis with a dainty meow.

“Hey Freddie!” Louis squeals as he lifts the cat up, before delicately pressing kisses to the top of his head. He immediately purrs at the affection, and Louis looks up from him to look around the hall for any trace of Harry.

“Harry, our baby misses you!” He calls, because maybe it'll work. He slowly starts to walk again, feet padding against the wooden floor intermixing with Freddie’s loud purrs. He receives no answer though, and it causes a sigh to leave the distressed boy’s lips. 

So he decides to just give it a rest and give Harry some time. The man has had a rough night last night and probably needs some time to regain his composure. Louis has had moments like those with his mom and his sisters, so he understands that Harry might need to cool off. 

He pushes his mission aside and instead carries Freddie down the stairs before setting him down with a last kiss to his head. “I'll be back later, babyboo!” Louis squeals as Freddie starts to roll around on the rug in front of the front door, and he walks away and lets him to it.

The house is silent, and seemingly lifeless, and it feels as though everyone had disappeared. That seems to happen a lot in this house, himself being left alone and often wandering about. He's surprised he hasn't even successfully escaped.

He finds himself walking out into the porch and looking out into the yard, to see if Harry might be around but he instead sees a figure, not with long curly hair, standing out in the garden, who he assumes to be Liam- aka the guy that fucked yesterday evening up by mentioning a name that seems to haunt Harry's mind; Olivia.

He finds himself walking out of the porch and walking out into the backyard, down the path him and Harry have walked on before. It's much cloudier today, a bit too dark than Louis would like, but that's only because he doesn't like rain, or thunder, or any type of weather except clear skies and a bright sun. The birds and the bugs are much quieter today, and there's a breeze picking up which causes strands of Louis’ fringe to catch in his eyes. 

As he gets closer to Liam, walking in the middle of the garden and over to him, he notices the gravestone that he has seen before awhile ago, and stands next to Liam and watches as he examines it, very closely. His hands are in his jeans pockets, hair neatly slicked back with a graphic t-shirt on. He finally notices Louis beside him, and looks down to him with a small smile across his lips.

He initiates a conversation. “Kind of a depressing day, huh?”

Louis looks up to the sky, with the wind picking up which is helping the gray clouds move and transition into a dark gray, almost deep blue looking, which stores rain and storms. He the averts his gaze back down to Liam, nodding in agreement with his pursed lips.

“Does Harry always make you wear dresses?” Liam nods to the sundress that covers Louis’ body, with the hem falling to just before his ankles because of how big it is on him. It's a pale pink color, made of thin material so it keeps the person wearing it cool and fresh.

Louis nods his head once again. “Sadly.”

Liam chuckles, but offers Louis an apologetic smile. “He's always been into androgynous looking boys. Ever since Olivia that is. She's the only girl Harry ever dated.”

Louis nods, to show Liam that he's listening. He won't actually add anything to the conversation, only because he has nothing to really say about it. Although he does have a lot of questions, he feels that Liam won't tell him anything.

So he asks, “Do you know anything about this grave?” Liam has been staring at it for awhile now, with a somber look across his face. 

Liam sighs, with a conflicted look replacing the gloomy one he just had. He licks over his lips, and looks over to Louis with a small shrug.

In an uncomfortable voice, “It's a faint memory that Harry refuses to let go of.” He sounds as though he feels bad for Harry, but that's probably just him being protective since they've known each other for awhile now. “I believe he comes here when he's feeling…” He trails off, trying to find the right word. “Nostalgic.”

Louis slowly nods, chewing on his bottom lip as he looks to the grave. It's sculpted into an angel, but there are no words on it at all. Only Harry knows what it's for, and he doesn't need an engraving for it. 

“I think it's about to rain.” Liam says, and right as he does, Louis can feel raindrops on his forehead, indicating that the two better go inside before it starts to pour.

They walk out of the garden and back down the path, with the rain slowly picking up as they progress to the porch. When they walk inside, they are immediately greeted with a sniffling Harry, watching as the broken man rubs his eyes. 

“Harry what's wrong?” It thunders, and Liam closes the porch door. Louis slowly walks over to him, looking up into his bloodshot, puffy eyes. He's pale; it looks like he hasn't eaten yet and it seems as though he's been up all night with little to no sleep. Tears threaten in his dark green eyes, as he collapses into Louis arms. 

“I'm sorry, I need you, I'm sorry.” He says, while stuffing his face into Harry’s neck. Louis immediately wraps his frail arms around Harry's torso, holding him close while shushing him, trying to get him to calm down.

“Daddy it's okay…” He murmurs, while pressing a kiss to Harry’s temple. “I'm here, your baby is here.”

Harry immediately lifts his head up, sniffling and wiping the tears off his cheeks as he stares up into Louis’ beautiful deep ocean blue irises, seemingly examining them for a few seconds. 

“Babygirl?” He says, while pressing his forehead to Louis.’

“It's me, daddy. Don't cry.” Louis frowns at the pain filled in Harry’s orbs, not wanting to ever see them like this again. He figures by calling him daddy, it'll calm him down and maybe get him back to normal. 

Harry immediately presses his lips to Louis’ and not in the forceful way. It's light, and feathery as he cups Louis’ cheeks, holding them and caressing them as though the entire world is being held by him. Both of their eyes close, completely shutting out the thunder striking in the sky and especially Harry’s close friend who finds the door to the house and lets them be. Harry chastely kisses Louis’ lips, without moving in any aggression or passion, or with any sexual desire. It's intricate and delicate, and it's all that Louis has wanted.

“I’m so sorry, baby. Daddy’s here now.” He murmurs against Louis’ lips, pressing another kiss to them afterwards.

Louis returns each kiss, before opening his eyes to see Harry already watching him with an unknown glint. 

“Hi daddy.” He smiles, and leans up on his tippy toes to kiss Harry’s nose with a small giggle leaving his lips.

“Cmon, doll. Let's go shower and talk about some things.”

And as much Louis wants to say no, he doesn't oblige when Harry carries him in his arms upstairs to the bathroom in the master bedroom.

*****

As Harry suds up the loofa he intends to use on Louis, Louis leans against the shower wall, chewing on his bottom lip at Harry’s naked frame. He can't help as his eyes scan up and down the man, staring intently at each tattoo that permanently inked his skin, while memorizing every intricate detail in on the butterfly that lays on his chest. Harry grabs a hold of his wrist and pulls him closer, starting to drag the loofa down his arm.

Louis fills the silence. “Harry?”

Harry hums, to show that Louis has his attention as he scrubs Louis’ bony shoulder, eventually moving onto his right arm and his right shoulder.

“You can't keep running away.”

Harry immediately stops, and moves his eyes to Louis’ face. Louis looks up at him, watching as Harry has a mental battle with himself to keep himself calm.

“If you want us to work, you can't just keep running away from whatever we fight about.” 

Harry perks up when he hears “us,” with a smile curving upwards on his plump lips. “I can do that.”

“I mean it, Harry. Gotta work it out, you know? Running away won't solve anything.” He's hinting about last night, and every other time Olivia is mentioned, but Harry never catches on. Instead, he immediately nods, and starts to drag the loofa over Louis’ collarbones, watching as Harry licks over his lips, slowly and seductively.

Louis takes this chance to change the subject to something a little more lighter for the both of them. “You like my collarbones? They're really popping, huh?” Louis giggles at his own statement, only giggling more when Harry nods his head, with the loofa moving all over his chest and sudsing up his torso.

“They're so pretty.” Harry only responds, eventually bending down to press a kiss to Louis’ belly button. “As is your lil belly.” He murmurs, starting to press kisses all over Louis’ stomach. Of course, Louis bursts into loud mewls of laughter because of how ticklish Harry’s lips are on his skin, and immediately places his hands on Harry’s chest to try and push him away. However, Harry is way too stronger than him, and stands completely still with one grip on Louis’ hip, the other holding the loofa.

“Mercy, mercy!” Louis loudly cries out, words intermixing with his high pitched laughter.

“Baby you’re so ticklish, I love it.” Harry grins as he pulls away, starting to run the loofa up and down Louis’ stomach and abdomen, finishing with his legs and his cock, and eventually turning him around so he can lightly massage his back with the loofa. But Louis shutters when the loofa rubs against the sensitive skin of his soft member, with a quick apology from Harry.

“Rinse off, sweetheart.”

Louis is quick to step into the water falling from the shower head, and lets out a relaxed sigh as the water cleanses him from all of the suds coating his body. He’s grown used to this, to Harry seeing him naked and washing him and treating him like a princess. He doesn’t mind Harry’s staring anymore, and doesn’t mind it when he earns a slap to his ass as the two get out.

“You’re beautiful, Louis.” Harry says, as Louis spreads himself out on Harry’s bed, showing off his beautiful, curvy hips and bony body to his daddy. “You’re an absolute beauty.”

He earns a kiss to the forehead from Harry, lips lingering against his skin for a few seconds before he pulls away to get dressed into a silk blouse and black skinnies.

“I’m going out with Liam.” He says as he pulls on a pair of socks. Louis perks up when he hears this, quickly sitting up with a small smile across his lips.

“Can I trust you by yourself?” Harry asks a few moments later, with a sudden dark and deep voice, eyes filled with a sinister and evil-like mood. Louis gulps at the sudden change of Harry’s personality, so he’s quick to nod his head with a promising look in his eye that he’ll be good for Harry.

“Yes, I promise.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might be a short chapter but it's pretty significant.

Louis is left alone, with the exception of Niall, who has been neglected by Harry, and their kitten, Freddie. They had left late afternoon, around four thirty or so, and Louis waved them off with a very loyal smile, promising that he would not fuck anything up.

But now is his time to sneak around. 

The two end up in Harry's bedroom, Olivia's diary in Niall's hand as Louis digs around in the walk in closet. 

_June 8th, 2013_  
Dear diary,  
I have noticed a significant change in Harry. He isn't gentle and soft like he used to be. He's a bit more controlling now, and I think this is because I want to go back home. What triggered this behavior? Is he not taking his antidepressants? 

_I asked him and he said he was always like that. He was so open about it; he didn't flip out, he didn't yell, he didn't get aggressive. I honestly think he's the way he is because he's insecure. I think he feels that he HAS to protect his loved ones because he is afraid to lose them. Does he have separation anxiety? Did something happen to him when he was younger?_

_I plan to find his diary. I will not be writing in this any longer, until I feel like I need to let all of my thoughts out. I'm afraid he'll find this and read it. He promised me he would never invade my privacy but everyone says that._

_Ill be back soon._

_Sincerely yours,  
Olivia x_

"Holy shit..." Niall says after he reads the entry, taking another few seconds to read it over and start flipping through the pages. "That's her last entry."

Louis immediately rushes out of the closet with furrowed eyebrows. "What?"

The Irish blonde hands Louis the book, and Louis starts to flip through endless blank pages. "I don't think that's good, Niall."

"So now we have nothing." 

Louis shrugs, and lifts up each corner of the mattress, only to find nothing hidden. They're out of diary entries, which takes them back to square one. Harry is a very difficult puzzle, and there's too many pieces still missing.

"I wanna go home, honestly." Louis sits down on the edge of the bed with a defeated sigh. 

"You know you could. We both could escape."

But they both know that Harry would most likely find them. "We don't even know where we are, Niall. We wouldn't make it far because we wouldn't know where we were going."

"Have you checked the nightstand's drawer?" Niall changes the subject, and hurries over to one of the two nightstands beside Harry's neatly made king sized bed. 

"No because I thought that would be too easy." Louis giggles, watching as Niall opens the drawer and takes out a journal.

"Found it." He grins and turns around to wave it in Louis' face.

"Bullshit. Let me see that." Louis snatches the journal from Niall's pale fingers and opens it up to the first page.

_Property of Harry Edward Styles._

"Good job, Niall!" Louis praises with a grin across his lips, using his free hand to ruffle the Irish boy's blonde hair. Niall laughs. 

"Well go on! Read it!"

Louis purses his lips, while tucking his finger into the next page to get ready to flip it. He hesitates though, because it's Harry's own safe space. It's his personal diary where he can be himself without being judged, where he can rant about anything that's troubling him, recollect his thoughts and jot down what happened that day. It's none of their business, honestly. And it just now takes Louis to realize that.

"I don't think we should. If he founds out, he could kill us. And plus, it's his diary. It's none of our business to go looking through his personal thoughts."

"We looked through Olivia's diary." Niall doesn't see what the problem is. "Come on, Lou. One entry. This could help us."

So Louis ends up flipping the page to the first entry Harry had written. It isn't much,honestly. It's just an introduction, one they everyone does when they first start writing in journals or diaries. It's all very normal, it dates back to 2012, and it seems like he hasn't met Olivia yet.  
The two engage in a conversation, wondering what Harry was like back in high school, and even elementary and middle school. They end up talking about themselves and what they were like.

"I always goofed off in elementary school, always making outbursts and being everyone's friend. Now, I'm the complete opposite."

Niall nods his head in understanding. "Yeah, I know how you feel. You didn't have to worry about insecurities and anxiety when you were younger."

"Not only that but people change. They aren't who you think they are. Things are always changing."

The two are laying down in the middle of Harry's bed, the journal on Louis' lap long forgotten. Louis slowly turns his head, eyes meeting Niall's. 

"Who are you talking about?" Niall murmurs, while casually and slowly leaning in.

"No one."

Niall ghosts his lips over Louis,' both their eyes closing as they melt into this slow process. Louis' mind is screaming for him to stop, but he ignores it. And just as they're about to connect their lips for a kiss-

"The fuck is going on here!?" A loud, rasped voice interrupts the two, causing them to quickly open their eyes and immediately pull away. Louis looks up to where the voice came from, and of course, it's Harry. They were so engaged with each other that they were completely unaware of everything else around them.

"Daddy-"

"Dont fucking start, Louis." He hisses with rage evident in his voice. "How the fuck did this happen!?"

He's more or so talking to Niall rather than Louis, and Niall nervously sits up as he carefully watches Harry.

Niall goes to speak but Harry beats him to it. "No, this cannot fucking happen." He stomps into the room and grips Niall's shirt, only to lift him up off the bed and set him on the floor on his feet. "How long have you two been seeing each other behind my back!? Niall, I specifically told you to stay away from Louis."

"He saw me and-"

"Wrong answer." Harry drags Niall to the middle of the room, and is quick to open the nightstand on the other side of the bed. He takes out a pistol and reloads the cartridge with fresh bullets. Louis' eyes bulge out of their socket as Harry walks closer to a shaking Niall, who has fresh tears forming in his eyes.

"Harry don't! Please I'm begging you!" Louis shouts, with tears forming in his eyes. 

Niall opens his mouth, "H-Harry you-"

It happened so quickly. The shot of the pistol stays fresh in Louis' ears as he screams, loudly crying out while watching as Niall's suddenly limp body fall to his knees, and eventually fall over. His side hits the wooden floor, eyes rolling to the back of his head, a pool of blood oozing through his shirt on his chest, and onto the floor as Louis cries, loudly sobbing because his only friend is gone, and his captor is a murderer.

"I got bored of you even before Louis came into my life." Harry mutters to the dead Niall, spitting on his body with a psychotic looking cheshire grin before making his way out, leaving a forlorn Louis to cry over the death and the trauma.


End file.
